Spread Your Wings
by noseinabook145
Summary: A series of unfortunate (or fortunate?) events leads to Lucy taking an offer to travel Fiore on a secret mission. She'll save lives, grow her skills...but will have to leave Natsu, with whom things are starting to heat up, behind. She swears to return, stronger than ever, but can she survive her adventures to face a hidden danger at home? NaLu
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone! Welcome to my next multichapter fic! AN at the end, for now enjoy!**

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At first it was wonderful. She was home! Having never thought to see her family again-her real one, that is-every moment was magical. Mira smothered her in hugs and delicious food. Elfman threw her up in the air as high as he could, her wings allowing her to float back to the ground. And her friends, oh, her friends! She never thought she could miss them so much. Sure, they'd been in Edolas, but it hadn't really been _them._ The guild welcomed her home with open arms and she'd glowed.

And, of course, there was him.

Her very best friend, her confident, her protector. They wandered the forest together, reminiscing. She laughed as he and Happy ate boatloads of food and got into ever more ridiculous contests to make her laugh. He'd sit down by her at the bar and order a firewhiskey and they'd swap stories of the past few years. He'd grown over the years they'd been apart, but when he smiled at her it was like nothing had ever changed.

Except it had.

It was slow at first, the bitterness. It crept up when she wasn't looking. A joke about an adventure she hadn't been present for, a new face that to everyone else was familiar. The realization that faces that might be familiar to her did not hold the same personalities as in the other world. She'd cracked a joke to Juvia about Grey in both worlds having the same stupid bedhead after awakening under a guild table post party-and instead of a dry chuckle from the cool headed woman like she'd been expecting, Lisanna had spent the next hour cleaning up the flood caused by the over-emotional water mage. And then spent the whole day protesting that yes, _of course_ Grey's bedhead was the most handsome thing ever, but _of course_ she meant it in the most platonic way possible! She learned quickly not to be labeled 'love-rival.' By the end of it she was exhausted and irritated. Similar episodes with other members of the guild, both new and old, as she occasionally mixed up personalities or forgot quirks left her more and more convinced that the guild laughed behind her back despite all evidence to the contrary.

Mira smothering her with love became suffocating instead of warm. She no longer felt like floating when Elfman threw her into the sky. Instead, she mired herself in an ugly river of resentment for what she'd lost, unwilling or unable to see that she needed only to stretch out a hand for an entire family to pull her out of the muck.

Eventually few things really brought her joy. One was running through the paths of the forest, blood pumping, heart pounding, through the familiar trails. Mira's cooking in any world could make the most wretched soul feel content. And, of course, Natsu. His grin burned away the darkness she felt surrounded her, his flames brought light and warmth back. She wanted to always share in the happiness he carried with him like his own personal sun. Remembering their declarations as children, she thought that maybe it could be real and she could always share in his happiness. Weeks went by and the quiet hope she nurtured in her heart grew ever stronger.

Whenever she envisioned it though, a real house instead of a straw hut, white haired children with green eyes, a shadow seemed to get in the way. A blonde, large breasted shadow.

She knew that Edolas Lucy and Natsu had been in love. But everything there had been different. They'd been polar opposites and Lucy Ashley had beat Natsu up on the daily, for pete's sake! This Lucy and Natsu were friends, relaxed, always hanging out together. If everything was different, they couldn't be in love, could they? She held onto that thread, held it tight as she could, latched onto any declaration Lucy made about them _not_ being a couple, and kept on soaking up Natsu's warmth as the rest of the world slowly turned cold.

The fact remained, though, that Natsu and Lucy were inseparable. And every time he walked away from her to spend the day with Lucy it felt a little darker. A little sadder. Lucy was nice, sure. But she took Natsu from Lisanna, and for that Lisanna ached. So when opportunity knocked, she answered. How could she not?

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 **Ok, everyone! Hope you liked the teaser prologue to this story. FYI, this is a NaLu all the way. It is, however, a slow burn. Also, I adore Lisanna in canon; who doesn't? But I've always thought that her transition back from Edolas could not have been as easy as it appeared. It wouldn't be hard to slip down a darker path, and I want to explore that with her while we continue our journey through this story.**

 **I'm hoping to update weekly on Tuesdays. Huge, massive shoutout to Lady Lutka, my beta! Everyone should go check out her work.**

 **Next chapter is significantly longer and we'll actually get to start the plot, so see you then!**


	2. Is it Enough?

**Hello friends, welcome back to Spread Your Wings! No teaser prologue this week; enjoy nearly 8k words!**

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It was a beautiful and cloudless day. Birds chirped softly, and the aroma of fresh bread from the bakery interwove with the perfume of wildflowers that bloomed along the side of the street. It was a perfect, peaceful day. Well, at least it _was_.

"NO! I DON'T WANNA! I'LL WALK THERE WITH HAPPY! YOU MOTHERF-erk!"

Natsu crumpled to the ground under Erza's armoured fist. "I am sure you were not about to finish that sentence with anything impolite or offensive," she addressed the prone dragon slayer, "and I know you're as determined as the rest of us to reach the town as quickly as possible. Gray! Drag him aboard."

A glare to the other man on the platform stopped any whining before it began, and with a repressed sigh he grabbed his frenemy by the scruff of his neck and hauled him onto the train. Gray dumped Natsu in the car Erza had reserved, allowing his head to flop onto a blonde woman's lap, knocking her book out of her hands.

"Hey! What the hell, Gray?" she snapped, cradling Natsu's head with one hand and reaching down with the other to snag her novel.

"Oh, come on. You know that's where he'll end up anyway. I'm just skipping all his dumb pukey gurgling before it starts." Gray smirked, dropping onto the opposite seat next to the two other members of the car, "Wendy's not gonna do Troia on him today, and I know Lis doesn't want him puking on her!"

Lucy sighed as Erza came in with Happy, squishing into the last seat in the overcrowded compartment. Distractedly, she played with Natsu's hair and he groaned slightly as he came to

"Luce? Wha's goin' on? Where一" the train jerked forward suddenly, and his head dropped back into her lap with a moan. To Gray's great satisfaction, however, his desperate dry heaves were minimal. Everyone sat back with a sigh to enjoy the scenery.

It was a difficult job with a large reward, and they'd planned and selected their team accordingly, Lucy reflected. Erza, Gray, herself, Natsu, Happy, Wendy, and Lisanna. It was a strong group and she knew she worked well with all of them... _mostly_.

Lisanna had been back for nearly three months now and despite the amount of time her partner had been spending with her, catching up on two years of absence, she felt she barely knew the newest addition to their team. It seemed that every time Lucy tried to sit down with her or spend any quality time with her, Lisanna would find an excuse to avoid Lucy's intentions. She was friendly, sure. On the surface, she presented a kind, cheerful demeanor. But Lucy had noted a few inconsistencies.

When Lisanna thought no one was looking, the smile dropped and the sparkle in her eyes dimmed. When she wasn't being dragged into the center of attention, she preferred to stay along the fringes of the group, almost hiding away in the shadows. And Lucy had caught her staring, more than once, at herself while she laughed with Natsu with an almost spiteful cast to her pretty features.

Maybe Lucy was just crazy. No one else seemed to be bothered by those occurrences. But then, everyone else had either known her before and was still in awe that she was back at all, or didn't spend as much time with Natsu as Lucy did. And since she was hyper-aware of her partner 一 but _only_ because they were a team, and he was her best friend, and they spent so much time together and it was _completely_ platonic, no matter what Mira and Levy said 一 that naturally she noticed anything odd around him, too. And Lisanna had definitely been sorted into the 'slightly off' category.

Upon further reflection Lucy had decided that it was possible Lisanna felt replaced. She'd been Natsu's best friend before, after all. It must be jarring, to come back from another world to see another woman at your childhood friend's side. Lucy could empathize and so she encouraged Natsu to hang out with his oldest friend and kept trying to socialise with Lisanna when the moment arose. Surely she'd see Lucy was no threat to her old friendships in time. Looking up from Natsu's hair, she caught Lisanna staring at them and sent a smile her way. The white-haired woman responded with a tight-lipped smile and turned away, but nonetheless Lucy slotted the interaction into the 'slow progress' category.

The rest of the ride was relatively peaceful, minus Natsu's moaning despite Lucy's best efforts, and a few hours later they'd pulled into the station. After scraping the Slayer off the floor, the team started the two hour trek to the next town over.

"So the train line won't stop at Glissfield until the dark mages' guild is ousted from the town, huh?" asked Gray, idly sculpting little ice waves as they went.

"That's correct," Erza responded. "The group showed up this week and attacked the village. Apparently it was nice enough that they've decided to stay. About twenty townsfolk made it to the capital to report it to the Rune Knights."

"So what about the others in the village?" Wendy asked. "If only twenty went to the capital, does that mean the rest of them are hiding somewhere? Or….are they still in the town?"

The group paused, not wanting to think too hard about the fates of anyone trapped under a dark guild's thumb.

"The town's census was listed as 104 people," Lucy started, "and twenty made it out 一 we've got eighty-four unaccounted for. We'll have to do what we can to find the answers."

Natsu turned back from where he'd been blowing air at Happy to create warm updrafts for the Exceed to ride. "Don't worry, guys! We'll find everyone and kick this guild's ass, too!" he slapped Lisanna a high five and she jumped into the air, bringing out her wings so she could ride on the warm currents he was providing, as well. Wendy laughed, adding her own magic to the mix and Lisanna and Happy swirled through the air, floating and twirling.

Lucy watched in amusement for a moment before dropping back to Erza. "You know," she murmured, "this isn't the first town that's been attacked. You've heard the reports of the other five as well as I have."

Erza frowned lightly. "We've all heard those reports, but I'm not sure they're connected. The culprits didn't stay like this group has."

"No, they didn't, but I don't think we can pass up the similarities. Small towns, usually occupied by about a hundred people. Maybe twenty make it out, but they can't tell us much because it's too dark. Everyone else disappears… except for a few bodies left behind who clearly fought back. And those that do make it are always old or are very young children. It sounds like trafficking to me, " she and Erza shared a look, and Erza's mouth tightened.

"You're right. I've spoken with the master about it and he says an investigation is already taking place, but I don't know any details. But if this is the same group, we _will_ get answers from them. And we _will_ discover what makes this town so important that they're willing to stay."

She looked sharply at Lucy then. "These mages are likely strong and prepared. Would you like to team up with me in the fight? Your spirits and I can back each other up to great effect."

Lucy's spine stiffened. "We can decide teams when we get there and see the layout," she hurried forward, away from the redhead. It was always her spirits people thought of in combat, never Lucy herself. She might be the weakest member of the team with the least useful combat magic, but she could hold her own! Besides, the team was counting on her! Pulling out a map of the town marked with the most likely places for the guild to hole up, she began to plan their strategy. She may not be the strongest, but she had her own strengths and she would do all she possibly could with that to save Glissfield.

It was high noon when the team crested the final hill and saw the village laid out below. Ducking down into a grove of trees, Lucy pulled out her map and and they clustered around.

"Ok, guys, let's go over this one more time. We have to take down the dark mages and see if we can rescue any hostages. They're most likely using the town hall as their base. The reports from the townspeople are garbled, so it could be anything between five or two-hundred guys… but I'm guessing more like thirty, and that's taking the last five towns reports into account. We'll go in with small groups and keep it quiet to try and find the hostages, and because we're outnumbered. Got it?"

A chorus of soft "ayes!" answered her. Erza stepped up, "The town appears quiet right now, but I see smoke from the center and saw someone cross the street when we first laid eyes on it. They are definitely here. Teams of four: Natsu, Happy, Lucy, and Lisanna will come from the south while Gray, Wendy, Carla and I take the north. Understood?"

The team nodded and split off, circling the town.

As they crept up to the first row of houses, Happy lifted Natsu lightly to land on the roof while Lucy and Lisanna waited below. The slayer's eyes narrowed as he looked over the town. It was too quiet. His sensitive nose flared as he took in a deep breath, searching. He smelled sweat, iron, and the stench of vile magic一typical of a dark mage infestation. Beneath that, riding on a draft from the train station, he identified the more common scent of regular townsfolk, tainted with fear. He frowned. The sweat and stink of dark magic was fresh and present, but the hostages' scent was stale and growing fainter. Why would they一BAM! A beam of light slammed into his side, knocking him off the building and crash landing him a few houses over.

Natsu dazedly clambered back to his feet, orienting in time to see three mages running at him down the street, each brandishing a magical weapon. As he lifted his fists he realized that the hostages were gone and the mages had been ready for an attack; his team had walked right into it. They were on him then, and he was in the fight.

Still in the alley behind the houses, Lucy watched with wide eyes as Natsu was blasted off the roof. She and Lisanna let out twin shrieks of surprise, but a heartbeat later found themselves hemmed in by six mages. As Happy raced off to help Natsu, the two women shifted into fighting stances, back to back, each facing three opponents. As the first man came at Lucy, swinging what looked like a mace imbued with lightning, Lucy ducked and lashed out at him with her whip, wrapping it around his leg and yanking it out from under him. Her other hand went to her keys and she grabbed the first one that came to her hand.

Swiping it through the air as she dodged a boulder summoned by her second opponent, a woman cackling as she ripped up more cobblestones from the ground, Scorpio materialized. Well, shit. She'd been trying to grab Taurus or Virgo, but the woman was joined now by the third mage and she certainly didn't have time to be picky. She would have to do what she could with what she had.

"Scorpio!" she cried, " _Sandstorm!_ "

"Yes ma'am," her spirit called back, "ain't nobody gonna see a thing!"

Sand whipped around the alley, cutting visibility to almost nothing. It was a tactic that benefited the group with lesser numbers, allowing them to slip around the enemy and reduce any chances of a coordinated attack from the other group. Scorpio stood back, maintaining his storm, as Lucy and Lisanna darted back and forth through the sand, effectively creating one on one battles.

But of course, all good things must come to an end. Lucy heard a thump and a cry, followed by a tug on her magic. Gasping, she whipped around as she felt Scorpio disappear back through his gate. At once, the sand collapsed uselessly to the ground, no longer providing a shield once Scorpio's magic had vanished. They'd taken out three of the dark mages, but that still left them at a disadvantage. Lisanna was a few arm lengths away, facing one man. A second woman was just getting up from the ground twenty feet away from where Lisanna had apparently thrown her. But the third man stood just behind the take-over mage, charging up something that reminded Lucy of the Jupiter Cannon used by Phantom Lord, albeit a miniature version. Lisanna was fully engaged with the other mage, and didn't turn as Lucy yelled to her. There was no time!

As the man lifted and aimed his cannon, Lucy launched herself at Lisanna, pushing her as hard as she could out of the way and bringing up one arm to protect herself, around which she'd wrapped her whip as a sort of flimsy protection. Lisanna went flying, and Lucy screamed in pain.

* * *

Her ears were ringing, and she barely knew which way was up. Lisanna blinked, slowly bringing the world back into focus. What the hell? She was… in a building? And someone was screaming? Why was everything so dark? Reaching blindly out, she brushed cloth aside, and light flooded her tiny prison, revealing the underside of a table she'd seemingly rolled under.

Lucy'd pushed her, Lisanna realized, and she'd been in position to get thrown through a doorway of one of the houses and rolled under the furniture. Hell of a push from someone not known for her physical prowess. Peeking out from under the table, Lisanna could see a glimpse of the fight through the doorway. Not that it was much of a fight, now.

Lucy's whip was wrapped around her arm and it glowed with a black energy, burning her. One of the dark mages held a mini cannon crackling with aftershocks of the same energy. Lisanna's blood went cold at the realization of what Lucy'd done. Had she taken that shot in the back… she didn't want to think about it.

Head still fuzzy from the throw under the table, Lisanna noticed that the screaming had stopped and the sounds of combat ceased. A moment later, a shadow fell across the door. Panicked and dizzy, she dropped the cloth, curling into a ball. Her pursuer took two slow steps into the house, then stopped. A tense silence filled the air and Lisanna tried to mask the sounds of her breathing.

The person stepped forward, toward the table, and halted as a rough voice called out from the alley. Lisanna didn't dare let out her breath of relief as the steps moved outside once more.

"C'mon, Lou, the other one's probably long gone by now! We'll just take this one back to base 一 we can send her off with the last of the townspeople."

Lisanna's breath quickened and her pupils dilated. They were taking Lucy! Lucy, who had just pushed her out of the way of a potentially deadly shot. Lucy, who was Natsu's best friend in the whole world. Who massaged his head while they were on the train, who he sat next to in the guild hall, whose house he broke into at night… if she were gone, he would be devastated! What would he do without her?

Lisanna glazed over for a moment, picturing it. Natsu's head in her lap instead. Natsu laying next to her on a grassy hill, looking up at the sky, hands entwined. It could be her. It _should_ be her.

Then she shook her head, hard, shaking off the last of her lightheadedness. What was she thinking?! She was Fairy Tail, and Fairy Tail didn't let nakama get dragged off because they were jealous of a memory! Pushing the tablecloth aside, Lisanna sprinted into the alley, the claws of her cat form forcing their way out of her skin, only to skid to a halt.

The dark mages were gone, and Lucy with them.

* * *

Erza threw the last of her attackers into a pile in the town square. The ambush had been unexpected and she was irritated. They must have been seen by someone when they'd first crested the hill. To add to her disgruntlement, they hadn't seen hide nor hair of any hostages. Crossing her arms, she turned in a slow circle, eyes flicking past Gray making ice cuffs and Wendy and Carla working together to drag a man to the pile, to focus on the shadows between houses and in windows. As she finished satisfying herself that they were not being watched, a roar sounded in the air to the south, followed by an explosion the size of a small house. Erza took off toward the sound, the rest of her group hot on her heels. There was only one person capable of that particular brand of destruction.

* * *

"They took Lucy?! What d'you mean they took Lucy!" Natsu roared in rage as Lisanna stood before him.

"I'm sorry Natsu! I couldn't do anything, I tried!" she squealed, guilt running through her at the lie and the situation. At the same time, there was no way she was going to reveal her lapse in judgement earlier. Especially not to the subject of her surprising fantasy. She watched anxiously as Natsu ran up and down the alley, sniffing madly as Happy circled up above.

"Nothing! They must've flown or, or something! LUCY!" he let out a earth shaking shout, and in pure frustration slammed a fireball through a house, blowing the roof into the air. Flames licked along his shoulders and arms and his eyes were slitted gold. Lisanna caught her breath, looking at him. He was powerful and beautiful. If she'd been the one taken, would he look the same?

She shook of the intrusive thoughts and focused as Erza skidded into the alley, followed closely by the rest of the team.

"What happened?" Gray demanded, bracing his hands on his knees and gulping in air. Lisanna hastened to answer.

"Lucy got kidnapped! She pushed me away from the fight and I fell and hit my head and there was nothing I could do一" she cut off as Natsu reached out to her.

"You hit your head? Are you alright?" his fingers, devastatingly warm, brushed her bangs. She sucked in a breath.

"Ye-yes. I'm fine."

He nodded once, assured, and immediately switched back to the topic at hand. Lucy. But before they could create a search strategy, Happy came rocketing down from the sky.

"Guys! I found them! The dark guild is gathering by the station, and I think I saw a train headed this way!"

Natsu didn't wait to hear more, launching himself forward into the streets with the team hot on his heels. Literally, because he was leaving a trail of fire in his wake.

They made it to the station just as the train slowed to a stop. It clearly wasn't official, consisting of an old, beat up engine with a freight car behind it. The dark guild members they hadn't subdued yet were there, surrounding about twenty hostages, including Lucy. As the team reached the open ground between the last buildings and the station, the leader of the group snaked an arm around her, pulling her to his chest and holding a knife at her throat.

"Stop right there, Fairy Tail! I'm not afraid to cut her wide open!" he called out, mocking them as he wedged Lucy tightly against his body.

She looked like hell and had clearly gone down fighting. Blood ran down her face from a broken nose, and two black eyes were already starting to form. Worse was her arm. Burn marks charred their way down in a spiraling pattern, evidence of her attempt to shield with her whip. Her head lolled slightly, barely able to hold itself up.

A deep growl reverberated through Natsu's chest, nearly shaking the ground around them. The leader eyed him with something like trepidation, but carried on regardless.

"Now...back away slowly, leave town, and no one needs to get hurt. We'll just take the last group here and be on our merry way, and we'll even leave the girl for you! I think that's more than fair, don't you?" he leered at them.

Fists clenched in rage, Natsu leaned forward, the heat radiating off him enough to cook them all if it weren't for the arctic cold pouring off Gray. The midpoint between them misted lightly as the air swirled, and that was what gave Wendy the idea.

Stepping slyly behind Erza, she used the wind to carry her voice to her teammates while masking it from the dark guild now herding the last group of hostages onto the train cars. A moment later, Happy and Carla took to the air and Wendy sidled back into place behind Natsu and Gray. Erza stepped forward as the Exceeds lifted off, the sun shining off her burnished armor.

"How do we know you'll keep your word and leave Lucy unharmed?" she demanded, drawing her sword and waving it in large, dramatic arcs. The light bounced off it, reflecting into the eyes of the leader. He squinted, lifting his hand.

In a flash, the Exceeds shot down from the sky, slamming into the man's shoulder and sliding down his arm to hold the hand with the knife. At the same time Gray and Natsu sent their best shots, not at the enemy, but at each other. The resulting steam would have blanketed the group and rendered them blind if not for Wendy sending it careening across the pavement into the dark group.

In the steam, Happy and Carla struggled to hold the mage's arm down and away from Lucy. The man fought for a second, then threw Lucy away from him and used his now free second arm to snatch at Carla. She jumped away from him at the last moment, leaving Happy the sole holder of his knife arm. Try as he might, Happy couldn't stop the man from raising his arm to strike as he leaned down to where Lucy lay on the ground, unconscious.

Happy felt a heat on his whiskers, and instinct built from years of experience told him to let go of the leader's arm. He blinked as he did so, and when his eyes opened again the heat had passed him by, taking the mage with. Now calm, he waved Carla over to help him fly Lucy out of the cloud. That guy wouldn't be bothering anyone once Natsu was done with him.

The fight didn't last long. By the time the fog had dissipated, the last of the dark mages lay on the ground, knocked out and moaning. Lisanna and Gray let the villagers out of the train car while Erza called the Rune Knights. Natsu and Wendy went straight to Lucy.

Wendy lay hands on the blonde, calling up her healing magic. The soft blue glow surrounded Lucy for a moment, then faded. She opened her eyes, sitting up groggily. Natsu helped her, wrapping one muscled arm around her slim shoulders. She stared at the platform for a moment, then gasped.

"Lisanna! Is she alright? I一"

"She's fine." Lucy's head snapped around, coming nose to nose with Natsu. He was staring at her intently, not a hint of his usual smile in place. "What were you thinking, Lucy? She said you shoved her out of the way when she had everything under control! You not only slammed her head into a wall but you almost got taken by these guys! I know you want to prove yourself but you're not strong enough to act the hero!"

Abruptly he let go of her and jumped up, running back to the group. The sudden loss of support made her jerk back before catching herself with her arms. She let out a hiss of pain, yanking her left arm to her chest and cradling it. Wendy tentatively reached out.

"I'm sorry, Lucy 一 I couldn't heal it all the way. Anything caused by dark magic is bound to scar." They both looked down at her arm. An angry scar ran along it in a spiral pattern from wrist to elbow. Lucy regarded it blankly for a moment before looking back to Natsu, now tying up bad guys with ferocious speed.

"Maybe it could've been avoided if I weren't 'playing the hero'," sadness permeated her voice. Wendy rubbed her shoulder lightly.

"I know he didn't mean it to be so harsh, Lucy. He was so scared when he heard you'd been kidnapped. He just wants you to be safe." She squeezed her friend's shoulder lightly. "I know you pushed Lisanna out of the way to protect her. She must not have had everything as in hand as she thought, huh?"

Lucy frowned. She hadn't thought Lisanna had anything in hand, but the fight and everything after was a bit of a blur. Maybe she had wanted to prove herself. Her initial shock at Natsu's outburst was rapidly turning into the familiar well of failure she felt after half the missions they went on. She was sick of being protected. Sick of being the weak link in the chain.

The train ride home was awkward. Natsu had automatically come to sit by Lucy, but when she'd drawn away he'd stopped before abruptly sitting next to Lisanna instead. When the engine pulled them out of the station, he keeled over into the other girl's lap. Lucy barely reacted, staring firmly out the window and not acknowledging anyone in the group.

Lisanna reached out, touching Natsu's hair with a single finger, then slowly entwined her whole hand into his rosy locks. Wow. They were so soft! Just like she remembered, before being sucked into Edolas. The tension in the car was thick enough to cut with a knife, and she still felt guilty over letting Lucy get taken and lying… misrepresenting… what had happened right before, but this? This was heaven. And Lucy was fine, right? It would be fine, she reasoned. It _was_ fine. She buried both hands into Natsu's hair, almost aggressively.

* * *

When the train pulled into Magnolia, Lucy wanted nothing more than to go home and soak in the bath, but her landlady was doing some renovations and wouldn't be done until late. So with a sigh, she picked up her bag and set off toward the guild, still avoiding Natsu. She knew he'd said what he did out of fear for her, but it didn't stop the sting of rejection and the dull anger she'd picked up somewhere along the ride home, watching him moan quietly in someone else's lap.

She dropped her bag unceremoniously on the floor and slumped onto a barstool. Catching Mira's eye, she gestured to the vodka.

A clank beside her announced Erza's presence. Lucy wanted nothing more than to ignore the redhead and drown her sorrows, but one did not neglect the Titania. So she reluctantly hitched herself to face the other woman.

"Lucy…" Erza hesitated. What did one say? After Lucy had slumped off, Natsu had stalked in the other direction. She and Gray had shared a look of understanding and he'd followed Natsu while she'd taken Lucy. Privately she thought Gray had the easier side of things. He and Natsu would barely have to talk at all. But she took a deep breath and carried on.

"I know you're upset. And I know you feel like you aren't strong enough, especially in combat. But you have much so value to the team, Lucy. You're our chief strategist and your magic and spirits are versatile and flexible." She smiled warmly at the blonde, only to find it slipping as she met blank eyes.

"What if that's not enough, Erza? I put people in danger today. What good is strategizing if you can't hold up your part of the plan?"

Erza sat back, swirling her own drink. She took a thoughtful swallow. "If you want to improve, you're welcome to train with me, of course."

Eyeing the blonde's shudder, she acknowledged that Lucy might not quite survive her regimen. "Although, you could always shake things up a bit as well." Lucy perked up at that, the first flicker of life coming into her eyes. Erza heartened, taking the offhand suggestion and running with it.

"When I was first training, I went on group missions, but I also took solos and went with different people. To get a different viewpoint and to force myself to use new skills. I'm not saying you should find a new partner, but maybe going with Natsu _every_ time is stunting some growth you could achieve. He does get a little overprotective where you're concerned. Maybe try a mission without him every so often to stretch yourself?"

She finished her drink and stood, clasping Lucy on the shoulder. "You are valuable, Lucy. You have strength. You just need to realize your potential and gain a little more confidence."

Erza nodded to Mira and left the guild, confident that she'd seen a thoughtful turning of wheels in Lucy's mind. It was true 一 Natsu did baby Lucy too much. She would never be able to grow if he didn't stop hovering over her like a mother with a firstborn. Besides, Lucy growing in confidence and Natsu recognizing it could only help their relationship… she'd have to update her bet with Cana.

Lucy sat thoughtfully, staring into the dregs of her glass. Slowly, the guild emptied out around her, save for Master at the end of the bar with some members she didn't know very well. Mira was done serving drinks and was doing her last rounds for the night. Lucy, the world definitely fuzzy around the edges, fell prey to the age old desire to use her bartender as a sounding board.

"Mira," she asked heavily, "d'you think I should strike out on my own? It would be so hard一 I dunno if I could leave Natsu like that, even if it's for a little while. But you should've heard 'im, Mira. He was so angry…. and ev'ryone feels the same way. Even if they don' say it. It hurts."

Mira murmured soothing words as Lucy continued to ramble about the mission, neither of them realizing that they'd become the focus of the guild's only other remaining occupants. A quiet, hurried conversation took place. Fifteen minutes later, as Lucy finally stood to walk home, the master approached.

"Lucy, child, sit a moment longer," his face was creased in a thoughtful frown. "I believe I've picked up most of what happened on your mission; but if I am honest, it's not much of a surprise. You've been struggling with this for a long time."

Her eyes watered. Even Master had seen her weakness? Sensing her thoughts, he shook his head.

"I do not think you are incompetent, child. Although I agree with Erza. You have untapped potential, and for that I might have a solution."

He gestured behind him, and Lucy realized that the people he'd been talking to earlier had followed him and now leaned against the bar, quietly observing.

There were three: two women and a man. The man was tall, nearly six feet if she judged correctly, and broad. He dwarfed the women next to him. She noted his forearms and hands were scarred with a multitude of knicks and burns, but these did not diminish his strength. He had brown hair, cut shorter at the sides and longer on top. Brown eyes regarded her kindly from behind black framed glasses. Surprisingly, he was perhaps the most accessorized out of the trio. Gauges in his ears, two heavy silver rings on his hands, and a dark corded necklace holding a smooth piece of obsidian completed the ensemble. He wore black, comfortable looking pants and a heavy button down shirt with the sleeves rolled.

His teammates stood to either side. The first was a brunette of middling height. Gray-blue eyes twinkled as they rested on Lucy. She had a narrow bladed nose and delicate jawline, and a full mouth made for mischievous smiles. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail and Lucy saw a gleam of purple highlights as she moved under the guildlights. A loose, tunic-like shirt belted at the waist fell to her hips, and underneath she wore form-fitting, deep purple pants. The shirt had billowing sleeves that slit at the elbows before falling to mid thigh, leaving her forearms and hands unencumbered. She wore a thin silver chain around her neck and dangling from that was a white, glimmering stone. Lucy found herself staring at it, drawn to it 一 and then the woman moved her hand over the necklace and the trance was broken. Lucy shook her head slightly and moved to the last member of the team.

She had red hair pulled into a long braid. A thin face with high cheekbones accentuated bright blue eyes, undiminished by thick framed glasses. She was alabaster pale, and as she lifted her hand in a greeting she revealed what looked like a large freckle on the inside of her wrist and a matching one in the crease of her elbow. Without looking, Lucy knew she would find them on the other arm as well. They were almost too perfectly placed. The woman wore a navy blue halter top under an open cloak, paired with dark jeans and knee high, steel toed combat boots. Aside from double piercings in each ear, she wore no accessories. She leaned an elbow on the bar counter and spoke.

"So you're a celestial wizard, huh? We might have a contract for you."

Lucy sat up straight. A contract? Like a key? The redhead stopped her as she eagerly opened her mouth.

"Ah, sorry. I should have clarified. We don't have any spirits to offer… although it's possible there will be some along the way. I meant that we'd like to strike a bargain with you."

Lucy leaned forward. "A bargain? With me?" She blinked at the trio. "What could you possibly want with me?"

The brunette woman grinned. "We could use your help. We're going on a mission, and we think you'd be a perfect fourth member of our team for the duration."

Now Lucy was shocked. She barely knew this team 一 couldn't even remember their names. They'd come in from a month long mission, chat up a few friends with a beer, then grab a new quest and be back on their way. How could they possibly know enough about her to want her to come? The suspicion must've shown on her face, because the redhead spoke up again.

"You went to catch that mage guild and rescue the hostages today."

It wasn't a question, but Lucy nodded anyway.

"We heard you talking about it to Mira. You've noticed the pattern between this one and the other towns. Only thing you weren't sure about was why the guild had stuck around so long this time. Now that you've been there and seen it 一 you figure it out?"

Still unsure as to where this was going, Lucy answered thoughtfully. Amidst all her angst today, she had been turning over the question in her mind. "This was the first landlocked town. Everywhere else has been near a sea or major river. We were only able to save twenty people out of the eighty or so left behind, and they were being put on a train barely able to hold them all. The dark guild is trafficking them for something, and their boat is bigger than their train."

Beside her, the master nodded approvingly. "That's what we've been able to figure out as well, child. You've been able to put it together with much less information than us."

The man spoke up for the first time. "This group isn't acting alone. There's someone behind the scenes pulling the strings. Fairy Tail's been asked to help the council find this guy and take him down. They're pretty sure they know who it is 一 and if they're right, it's going to take a lot of time and work, and a little more firepower than we've got."

"That's why we'd like to recruit you," the redhead said, "you're already aware of the case, you'll strategize well with us, and your magic is versatile and powerful enough to maybe tip the scales in our favor."

Lucy sat back. This was definitely not how she'd expected her night to go, but the villagers' hopeless faces had been haunting her all day. She wasn't convinced they were making the right choice, though. "I'm happy to look over the case with you guys, but I don't know about firepower. If you need someone to 'tip the scales,' wouldn't Laxus or Erza be a better choice?"

The brunette grinned at her. "Maybe, if we wanted loud. But a lot of this will be fairly covert. Your magic is versatile and becomes more so with each spirit you add. The man we're after is a smuggler of many things 一 magic artifacts included. You might well get a spirit or two out of the deal."

Here Master interjected. "Besides, Lucy, you are selling yourself short. There are a variety of ways to raise your abilities and use your powers in more active combat. I believe with a rather more intense training regimen, you will find yourself surprised at how much you'll achieve."

That stopped Lucy in her tracks. Sure, there were ways to use celestial magic in active combat一 the Stardress for one. And it was true that her training was sporadic at best. What, she was busy! Where would she find the time to 一 _oh_.

"That contract you mentioned," she started, "what would that involve, exactly?"

The redhead came up off the counter, grinning.

"You'd join our team for the duration of the mission to find and help topple this asshole. We estimate it'll take a few months, and we'll be in and out of the guild during that time as we travel. In exchange for helping us, we'll train you as we go. All of us are near S-Class level, and even if we don't have the same powers as you we can help you realize yours. Your spirits can provide detailed and specific instruction to work with 一 Also: any keys we might find on the trip are yours. It can only make the group stronger for you to have them."

Lucy sat back, stunned. An offer to join and train with an S-Class team, save hundreds of innocents, and keep any keys they found along the way? It was something she would have fainted from hearing before she joined Fairy Tail. She felt a little lightheaded now. That might be the vodka, though.

She was grounded, however, when she thought of her present team. Natsu and Happy, breaking into her apartment, going on a new adventure together, even Natsu's motion sickness. Could she really leave them? Leave _him_?

The master touched her arm lightly. "You will not leave him forever, my child, and you will see him at times during this mission," he seemed to read her mind as he allayed her fears. "The two of you have been struggling for some time. Perhaps a break and chance to think will be best for both of you. And besides," a lecherous smirk spread over the wizened face, "absence _does_ make the heart grow fonder!"

Lucy snatched her hand away, face burning. "Master!"

But the old man had a point. This could be exactly what she needed. If she grew strong enough, she would be able to hold her own! She wouldn't need rescuing. She'd be _helpful._ Natsu would be proud of her. With that thought, her mind was made up.

She looked at the trio. "Yes," she punctuated it with a nod. "I'll do it. When do we leave?"

The man stepped forward, pulling a pocketwatch out. "We meet at the station in two hours for a night train to Hargeon. Pack for two months, but keep a smaller go-bag separate."

It was about what she'd expected from their traveling cloaks and bags by their feet. But一

"Wait! What about my rent?"

The brunette laughed. "We should've mentioned. The council is covering it for the duration of the mission and will take it out of the reward at the end. It's standard procedure for a request of this magnitude. We also get a small sum for food and whatnot every month. Master will take care of the paperwork for you."

Mira, quiet thus far, snorted. " _I'll_ take care of the paperwork for you, Lucy," she winked, "and I'll keep you in Natsu's mind while you're gooooone!"

Lucy felt her face heating up again and grabbed her bag. "I'll see you at the station at midnight!" she babbled to her temporary team, nearly tripping in her haste to get out the door.

As she hurried down the street, she realized she hadn't yet caught anyone's names. Whoops. No time to go back now, she had packing to do and a letter to write to one pink-haired man to explain her decision.

* * *

 _Meanwhile, on a hill just outside of town..._

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

"Ice Make Cannon!"

BAM! BANG! POW!

The two mages were flung away from each other by the force of their blasts, landing on either side of the hill. Neither let the setback stop him.

Gray formed a set of ice throwing stars and sent them hurtling at Natsu. "How come you're so on Lucy's case, huh? That shit today wasn't her fault!"

Natsu dodged the stars with a neat backflip and sent a wall of fire at Gray. "I know that, freeze-face! But she didn't have to jump into a hit like that! She's gotta learn when to stand back!" he followed his flame wall, fists at the ready.

Gray froze himself into a block of ice. The fire wall shrunk it down a bit, but enough was still in place for Natsu to hurt his hand on it when he came hurtling through the flame, expecting to find Gray's face. Gray broke the ice, sending the shards at his opponent. "Lisanna got hit in the head, man," he panted, "she barely remembers the fight. Lucy probably saved her ass, and you're freaking out because she got hurt and you weren't there! Talk about learning to stand back!"

Natsu froze for a moment, his inattention allowing an ice shard to slam into his bicep. "Ow! Fuck! Well," he spluttered, quickly forming fireballs to melt the rest of the shards, "I should've been there to protect her! And I wasn't, and now she's got that fucking scar on her for the rest of her life because I couldn't be there for her!"

His face was drawn and pained and his fists clenched. Gray sighed, dropping his own fight stance. He was pretty wiped from the first hour of the fight anyway.

"Look. I know you want to protect Lucy all the time, from everything, but have you thought that you're hurting her by doing that?" seeing that Natsu was about to attack him, he held up his hands and quickly continued, "she can't get stronger if you coddle her all the time, dude! And yelling at her afterward isn't gonna help! Lucy knows when she screws up and she already harps on herself for her weaknesses!"

Natsu sagged, the fight gone out of him. He meandered to the top of the hill, sitting on a patch of charred grass. Gray flopped down beside him on a leftover sheet of ice.

"I know I'm holding her back a bit," Natsu said in a low voice, "but I can't help it. I can't see her hurt. I _won't_ see her hurt."

Gray sighed. "I know, man. But you gotta loosen the reins a bit. Let her strike out on her own a little more. Just...go over there and talk to her. She's most upset about what you said to her, you know."

The fire mage rubbed a hand over his face, contemplating for a moment. Then, "Yeah. I guess I'll go." He heaved himself up and started away before pausing and turning halfway.

"Gray?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Yeah."

….

"Gray?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't let your guard down."

With that, Natsu spat a stream of fire onto the seat of Gray's pants and took off running, followed by Gray's curses and a volley of ice spears. He evaded them all and jogged into town, winding his way through the cobblestone streets toward Lucy. They all knew it was only a matter of time before Gray lost those pants, anyway.

* * *

 **Oh man! So much is happening! How will Natsu take the news? Who are Lucy's new teammates? Who's trafficking the villagers, and why? And of course...how is Lisanna going to react to the chain reaction caused by her lie?**

 **Also: I've decided to give a shoutout to another author weekly, because it's important that we all support each other in our writing endeavors! Last week was my amazing beta Lady Lutka, and this week I'd like to direct you all to YukiMC! I'm betaing her story, 'What I Want,' and if you don't want to deal with this slow burn NaLu, then her phenomenally story is right up your alley! If you love it, leave her a review and wish her luck with upcoming exams :)**

 **That's all for this week, and hopefully your interest is peaked enough to come back next week!**


	3. And So It Begins

**Hey everybody! Another week gone, and a new chapter to enjoy! Review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

Natsu swung up the side of the apartment building easily, hands and feet fitting into familiar holds. As much as he hated to admit it, Gray was right. He needed to have this talk with Lucy. The hot headed mage didn't consider himself a big talker-that was more Lucy's area of expertise 一but his actions lately hadn't seemed to help anything either. Some leftover anger and fear simmered in his veins, but it had been tempered by his brawl with Gray.

As he slipped through the window he expected the Celestial mage to be sitting at her desk writing, or maybe taking a bath. He stopped cold, however, as he took in the scene in front of him.

* * *

Lucy finished up her letter to the team, setting it down gently. She wanted to write a separate one to Natsu, but… she couldn't seem to find the words. Sighing, she rubbed her temples, a stress induced headache throbbing beneath her fingers. She'd do it on the train and post it at their arrival stop. She'd rather write nothing now than leave the wrong thing, and although she felt a clearer sense of purpose and determination than she had in a long time, she ran into a confusingly jumbled mess of thought and emotion when it came to her partner. She stood from the desk, grabbed her large, bulging pack, turned… and there he was, frozen at the window.

Lucy gasped, dropping her bag, and at the same time Natsu moved. He crossed the room in two strides and cornered her up against the edge of the desk.

"Luce? What… what the hell is this?" his voice went from shock to anger as he spoke, and his emotion sparked her own.

"What does it look like, Natsu?" she hissed with venom, her anger very much a living thing that ensnared the both of them. "I'm leaving! I'm going somewhere where I won't be a liability anymore!"

His hands clenched, furious that she could think he viewed her that way. "So you're running away? Because you think I see you as weak? You're gonna go out there on your own and what, prove yourself? That's a stupid fucking idea, Lucy," he spat.

Cheeks red, she yelled back. "I'm not going on my own! I'm going to travel with people who will _train_ me and _work with_ me instead of _coddling_ me all the time!"

The implications hit him like a slap in the face and he stepped back. "You're joining a new team? Because I… I coddle you? I just want to keep you safe!"

Lucy saw the hurt in his face and her anger banked suddenly, spark doused to nothing as she realized the harshness of her words. She softened her tone with no real effort, despite her swelling rage from before. "You're my partner, Natsu. That'll never change," she paused here, gaze flickering away from his as she prepared her next words, knowing they would hurt them both. "But I need to do this. We're stuck in a pattern right now and we have been for awhile 一today's mission made that clear. I think we need a break."

She went to him, took his hand. His fingers curled around her own with the force of long habit and affection. His other arm reached out and wrapped around her, pulling her into a firm embrace. They stayed like that a moment and he breathed her in and tried to think things through for once.

"I-I guess I haven't been... fair," he started haltingly, picking his words with an unfamiliar care. "Maybe if I gave you more chances in the field, this wouldn't have happened." His fingers traced down her new scar, following the spirals. The touch, warm against her newly warped flesh, made her shiver.

"Maybe you're right, and this is what we need. But I just… I don't want to lose you," Natsu's voice was raw and Lucy's head came up, meeting his gaze.

"You won't. Not now, not ever," her hand came up to rest on his cheek. "But I have to go."

He nodded fractionally, but his arms tightened their hold, pressing her into him. Lucy's hands pressed into his chest. Gods, she would miss him. How could she do this? She couldn't leave…

Unbidden, an image flitted across her closed eyes. Lisanna on the ride home, rubbing her head with its goose egg. Put there by Lucy when she'd shoved Lisanna out of the way, only to get injured and captured herself. It was through sheer luck they hadn't taken Lisanna as well.

She let out a sigh, opening her eyes, letting her gaze trawl over Natsu, grief and anger suffused in equal measure. Her emotions rode up in a wave, her own rage and impending loss swirling together into a white hot longing. Before she realized what she'd done, Lucy pulled his head down, smashing her lips inelegantly against his own.

She felt him gasp and stiffen, and then he kissed her back, devouring her. Lucy moaned, hands tightening in his hair. He growled, and the sound reverberated through her. He pushed her back, running her into the desk…

...and a teacup she'd left on the edge fell, shattering across the floor.

The blonde yanked her head back, gasping, the spell broken. Pushing the fire mage a step back, she grabbed her bag and crossed the room in an instant. The door slammed behind her and the sound of her steps thundered down the stairs and into the street.

In the shadowed apartment, Natsu stood stock still, shocked into silence, staring at the ceramic remains of the teacup on the floor. After a few moments, one hand reached up and lightly touched his mouth. Then he was running, out the window, down the alley, toward his partner. He tripped on a loose cobblestone but carried on, stumbling and cursing.

He made it to the train platform just in time to see the locomotive chugging out of the station. Slowing to a jog and coming to a halt, he braced his hands on his knees. She was leaving him after _that?_ Everything in him screamed to shake her destination out of Mira and go after her. But, her face when she'd accused him of coddling her... Come to think of it, her face at the end of most of the missions they'd taken over the past six months. Perfectly safe, not a scratch on her, smiling… and yet miserable. Maybe for once he could hold back. Build something for her to return to. Maybe. Seemed like he at least owed it to her to try.

"Fucking hell, Lucy…" he growled, "this trip better do what you think it will. And it better be _short."_

Straightening, he started for home.

* * *

Leaning against the train door, Lucy gasped for breath. She'd barely made it aboard in time. Stumbling through the corridor, messy hair and swirling thoughts, she took a second to pull herself together as much as she was able before entering her new team's compartment.

As she entered, the redhead laughed and extended an arm. "Lucy! We were worried about you, but then we saw you hauling ass to get across the platform! Didn't know someone could run like that in heels."

Lucy took the remaining seat, smiling lightly despite herself. "I have a lot of practice running from monsters in these. A train is nothing." She coughed a little awkwardly, "So, umm. I have to admit… I don't really know anything about you guys."

The man broke into laughter. "You're right! We got so caught up talking about the mission and stuff we didn't even introduce ourselves! You must think we're some psychos, sorry Lucy. I'm Torin," he grinned, reaching over to envelope Lucy's hand in his own for a firm shake. "I'm a chef mage."

Lucy quirked a brow. She hadn't come across that one before. "Chef mage?"

He laughed again. "It's not as weird as you might think. I have requip ability," he spread his fingers and a deadly looking cleaver appeared in his hand, "a fair bit of control over temperature," the cleaver glowed a sudden, sullen red, "and the name of my game is potions. Plus anything I make is guaranteed to be delicious, so we won't go hungry while we're on the road!" The red-hot cleaver vanished.

That sounded good to Lucy, especially the part about the food. She'd had too much burnt fire chicken lately. But that made her think about Natsu, and she hastily moved on before her thoughts could catch up.

She turned to the brunette, who sent a relaxed wave her way. "I'm Nalona, but you can call me Lona. I use moon magic," she smiled and gestured at Lucy, who squealed as she rose up a few inches before plopping back down in her seat.

"So it's gravity magic?"

"Partially. It's much easier for me to lighten gravity than weigh anything down, although with enough strain I can. I have some attacks I can use as well 一 which I can't demonstrate in the carriage 一 and I can redirect people's minds for a moment if I have to. Also, a teeny-tiny bit of pull over water, but I'm working on that."

"Redirect minds?"

"Mmm, yeah. That one surprises people. You know the whole 'full moon madness' thing? There's some truth to that and I can tap into it. It works way better when the moon's actually full, though. Probably because people are more susceptible."

Lucy was fascinated. "That's amazing! You must be pretty unstoppable." she gushed.

The redhead chuckled and Lona gave a regretful but good humored smile. "It seems like it, but we've had issues with stealth missions because of me."

"Why? Redirecting attention practically screams stealth."

"Yeeaaah… except I have to use it a lot more than we should, because, well…. I glow."

"You _what?_ "

Torin reached over and flipped off the bright compartment light, leaving them in darkness. Lucy could dimly see Lona extend her hand again and lift Lucy off her seat, and then she could see a whole lot better as Lona started to radiate a dull purple that brightened the higher she lifted Lucy. Torin turned the light back on as Lona lowered her down.

"The more magic I use, the brighter I get. Isn't that stupid? Like half the budget has to go to face paint on stealth missions."

Lucy couldn't help it; she had to laugh. It made her feel better somehow, that this powerful team would be so open about a struggle they faced with her. She turned to the last member.

The redhead shook her hand. "I'm Rai! Tattoo mage," she extended a hand and Lucy watched as black lines formed and swirled under her skin before rising up out of her flesh and twisting into a blooming rose. The ink originated at the inkspot she'd noted on her wrist in the guildhall. Rai smiled and the tattoos faded into nothing, leaving her pale skin unmarked as before.

"So can you create anything?"

"Technically. Although the larger and more complex it is, the more power it takes. And to create it I have to envision it and hold it in my mind, every detail. It can be a bitch in a fight."

Lucy nodded in understanding, and before a lull in the conversation could commence, Rai leaned forward. "Sorry about forgetting the introductions earlier! But we're excited to have you join the Ceartas, Lucy. We'll talk about your training and plans for the mission tomorrow, ok? You look beat."

As the other woman spoke, the celestial mage realized it was true. She was exhausted and emotionally drained. Not even the excitement of meeting new mages and learning about their magics was going to keep her awake. Smiling her thanks, Lucy leaned her head against the window and despite the turmoil still roiling within her, fell asleep instantly.

* * *

She woke up the next morning groggy and disoriented. For a moment she thought she was back home, snuggled into the covers with one strong arm flung over her. She turned to berate Natsu for sneaking into her bed, _again,_ before blinking in confusion at the pillow that had flopped onto her back and looking around at the tiny cabin she occupied.

Right.

She wasn't home, and Natsu wasn't here. She'd kissed him and run away.

Dragging herself out of bed, Lucy got dressed, stumbling slightly with the repercussions of a mild hangover. He'd kissed her back. But he hadn't come after her. What did that mean? Brushing her hair and pulling it back into a ponytail, she scowled.

" _Way to screw things up, Lucy,"_ she thought to herself. " _Maybe next time you agree to a complete life change and throw yourself at your best friend you should try sobering up, first!"_

She sighed. Well, it was too late now. She'd just have to move forward and hope they could talk it out when they next saw each other. Her stomach grumbled as she opened the door, heading down a hallway and up a narrow flight of stairs.

Talk it out, huh? The next time they saw each other? Lucy smiled grimly to herself as she emerged onto a whitewashed deck that rolled under her feet. Moving carefully across its broad expanse to where she could see her new team sitting at a table, she looked across the endless blue to the horizon.

Around 4am she'd been woken by Lona and staggered out of the train and up the gangplank of this ship, down the stairs and into the cabin. She'd fallen back asleep the minute her head had hit the pillow. Now, Natsu still at the forefront of her mind, she realized that their talk would be a long time in coming.

Turning her back on the waves, she pushed the thoughts away. Regrets wouldn't help her catch this human trafficker, and they wouldn't help her get stronger. Kiss or no kiss, those goals hadn't changed. Plus, whatever Torin was cooking smelled amazing and she was definitely a little hungover.

Breakfast _was_ amazing, and twenty minutes later Lucy had a new appreciation for travelling with a chef mage. They chatted over breakfast and Lucy shared more details about her magic and what she was hoping to work on, and they all swapped mission stories. After stuffing herself and letting the refreshing sea breeze take care of the rest of her headache, she was ready to talk business with the team. Maps and notes came out, weighted down with rounded white rocks Lona called moonstones, which she used to amplify her magic.

"First things first, Lucy, let's catch you up," Lona flashed her a bright smile before launching into the details of their mission, eyes as hard as her moonstone "We're pretty sure that the person behind this is Domme Malleolus. He's a big time smuggler but has a finger in any crime pie he can. He heads up a serious gang, the UnderLords. They're hundreds strong and well organized. No one's ever been able to take him down before, and they've tried. He operates mainly out of Bosco but according to the Council, there have been signs that his men are muscling in on Fiore. This is the latest and biggest threat, and we're representing the Magic Council, Fiore, and of course Fairy Tail on this job. We're working with Bosco's knights, which are like our rune knights but without magic. This is way different than what they know about his human trafficking before and the Council has no idea what he's planning. We've got a little intel on the ship they were using and we know it docks in Portico, a Bosco city. So that's where we're going. It'll take about a week to get there. Questions?"

Lucy shook her head, eyes narrowed at the maps. This was definitely bigger than she'd anticipated.

"Alright, so we know this guy's been hitting small towns with between one and two hundred people, and he's been doing it at a rate of about once every two weeks. That's as fast as they can given the boat's travel time, so it suggests he's on a schedule," Rai mused, "that speed seems to have made them sloppy; it's the only reason we have a lead on these guys."

"And we know his forces are well trained, although a really good mage can take down a group," Torin added, nodding to Lucy. "But we can't assume that those are the elite. It's likely he has more powerful mages, but keeps them close."

"The most pressing question right now is what they do with the people once they anchor," Lona said, "and it's the best place for us to start. We can't know what the end goal is without finding out where they're going."

There was a brief silence as everyone contemplated the next steps needed in order to bring their target to justice.

"Once they get into port," Lucy started, "they would need privacy in order to unload hundreds of people without suspicion. So they probably unload at night and on a private dock, away from everything else. Given that we left the same night as the last trainload of prisoners, we'll probably get there a day or so before they do if they keep to the same schedule because this ship is smaller and faster. We should use the intervening day to scope out the most likely places they'll unload and keep an eye on Portico's harbor manifest. When they sign in, we'll be ready."

The other three nodded as she spoke. "I like it." Rai decided. "We'll go over the maps of the harbor after lunch. For right now I think it's training time!"

The team cheered and Lucy cringed a little. Training? So soon? She'd been hoping to use the morning to relax a bit. Guess that wasn't happening, _dammit_. But alas! This was what she'd signed up for, albeit drunk and angry, so she helped to roll up the parchments spread across the table.

"So we got excited and put together a plan for your training while you were sleeping last night, Lucy," Rai started, eyes sparkling. "We all have different strengths and we'll split up working with you based on them. Plus that way we'll all keep time to work on our individual magics."

Lucy nodded as she continued.

"So at breakfast you mentioned wanting to be more useful yourself in a fight instead of using your spirits. And from what it sounds like, your kryptonite is the loss of your keys. You can't call spirits and thus work any magic without them."

It was a succinct summary and Lucy inclined her head in agreement.

"What we're thinking is that you should learn some basic requip with Torin." Lucy opened her mouth to protest when the chef jumped in.

"Obviously that's gonna stretch you since it's not related to Celestial magic, but every mage has the ability to branch out a little and you should be able to move a few small items related to your magic. I got Rai and Lona to do a couple really basic things, too, so you'll be fine."

He gave her a thumbs up that she returned hesitantly. It would be really nice to stop losing her damn keys all the time. Maybe Aquarius would beat her up less.

Rai continued where she'd left off. "My magic is the least similar to yours, but it takes an enormous amount of discipline to maintain any shapes I create. So you and I will work on meditation and focusing your power, which will benefit you overall."

Lucy had done something similar with Capricorn and she felt confident she could excel on that front.

"Lona is the most similar to you, so she was thinking that you two could work on more active forms of your magic together. If you have a spirit you can call to explain details, she can merge that with her knowledge and work on things without having to call them every day. And lastly, we'll all work on hand to hand combat!"

Lucy looked at all the grinning faces around the table and felt tears welling up. "You guys," she whispered. "You don't have to do all this for me. I don't know how to thank you."

Torin patted her slightly awkwardly on the shoulder as one tear slipped free. "You can thank us by helping us catch this asshole, Lucy. No further gratitude needed."

Lona pitched in. "Besides, teaching you gives us a chance to stretch our own skills and look at our power in a new light. This is good for all of us! So no more tears, ok? Let's get started!"

Lucy wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded firmly.

It was time to power up.

* * *

She couldn't believe it. Lucy was gone? To train on a mission that would take months? It was like a bright spark had descended into Lisanna's gloomy world. At first when Master had told the team, she'd felt guilty again. If she hadn't decided to stay under that table in return for the Celestial mage's aid on their mission, the entire series of events could have been avoided. Was she responsible for the breakup of the team?

She'd sat behind the bar, mind muddled with guilt and self loathing, looking at Natsu's dejected face. She'd made him sad. But… he didn't know that. He didn't know it was all Lisanna's fault. And maybe, since Lucy had left, she could be the one to make him happy again.

It would be her own act of repentance. She'd make him smile again. They could pack a lunch and go run in the woods and take missions together like when they were kids. She could forget all about the mission yesterday. About the last few months altogether. Maybe Lisanna could feel like everything was right again.

With the vision in mind, illuminating her way, she came out of her corner to sit by Natsu and Happy. Pulling the Exceed into her lap and cuddling him close (Happy, at least, had not changed whatsoever from her time in Edolas. She couldn't help but love the mischievous feline and slip him a fish near daily), she reached out a hand and tentatively laid it on Natsu's arm.

He looked over, taking a moment to focus on her features.

"Hey, Lis," his voice lacked its usual bluster and energy.

"Hey, Natsu. How about a plate of fire chicken on me? And some fish for Happy, of course!"

He brightened, just the smallest bit, but it was enough for her to grab some dishes and disappear into the kitchen. She spent the rest of the day at his side, and the next day and the day after that. Every smile she coaxed from him became a badge of honour she guarded with overzealous pride.

She didn't notice how often he gazed upon the horizon, a hand to his lips and a wistfulness in his eyes. And it was just as well. If she had noticed his wandering gaze or the barest hint of the caress of another….would her poor, fragile heart be able to take it?

* * *

 **Annnnd that's a wrap! Hope you all enjoyed! Another big thanks to my editor, lady lutka.**

 **This week's author shoutout goes to MorriganFae! She's working on two NaLu stories right now (I don't know how she does it, I can barely handle one), so go read her work and show her some love!**

 **Shoot me a review; I love to read and respond!**


	4. The Battle of Portico

**Hello again! Whew, just made the Tuesday deadline. In my defense, the latest Dresden Files book just came out! If you haven't read the Dresden Files...well, let's just say it's a gritty adult Harry Potter.**

* * *

The alarm was blaring as the building shook from a magical blast. Lucy ducked down a side hallway, trying to wipe the blood from her eyes as she sprinted, mindful of the precious cargo on her back. How the hell had she gotten herself into this mess?

* * *

 **Early That Morning**

 _Thud!_

"Ow!"

Rai laughed, reaching out a hand to help Lucy off the deck for what felt like the fiftieth time that morning.

"You're doing better, really. Most people don't expect to master martial arts in a week, you know."

Lucy grinned ruefully, swiping her sweaty hair out of her face. "I guess not. I'm just nervous. We're docking in a few hours and I want to be ready to hit these guys tonight."

Rai nodded, eyes serious. "Me too. We can't do that by being exhausted, though. Let's go through the stretching exercises and then cool down with a little meditation."

Lucy nodded, dropping to the floor next to her teacher for the moment and reaching for her toes. The week she'd spent on the ship had been exhausting. All she'd done was eat, sleep, and train. Meals were spent talking mission strategy and she stumbled back to the cabin she shared with Lona too exhausted to do more than brush her teeth and fall into bed.

It was a punishing pace, but Lucy had been the one to set it. The busier she was, the less homesick she felt. And she was proud to say that she was already beginning to see some results.

She started each day stretching and learning hand to hand combat with all of her teammates. They took turns training her while the other two called out suggestions or sparred with each other. Lucy was a long way from a black belt, but she'd learned the proper form for a punch and a basic hip throw. Her kicks, it had been unanimously decided, needed no further instruction.

After sparring, she and Rai would meditate. The first few days were terrible; as a writer and general overthinker, Lucy was not accustomed to emptying her mind. But she'd started to get the hang of it and Rai had been pleased. The next step, expanding her awareness of her surroundings and using it to boost her power, would probably come next week.

Provided, of course, she made it through tonight.

Lucy gulped, ended her stretching and shifted into a lotus pose. The sea breeze caressed her hair and dried the last of the sweat from her brow.

She was putting everything she had into this meditation training, because the discipline that came with it would accelerate her learning with Torin and Lona.

Torin had begun teaching her the foundation of requip magic with a pebble.

"You've been to another world, so you know that this reality isn't all there is," he'd told her, "and to requip something is in essence to refold your reality."

He'd held up a spoon. "See this? Now," he twitched his hand and it vanished, "now there is no spoon!" He gestured again and it returned. "But where does it go, right? This is the weird part for people; it goes into my own little reality."

Lucy held her pebble, fascinated. So Erza had her own reality walk-in closet? She'd asked Torin about it and he'd laughed with her at the image.

"Erza's on a level way, way above anyone else. She can mold reality around her entire body. Most of us can only do it with our hands. And this is what you need to do. Picture a pocket that hovers around your hands. You, and only you, can reach into that pocket."

He gestured again, and she saw that the motion was indeed that of him plucking something out of the air.

"As you start reaching your awareness out with Rai, you'll have an easier time finding your pocket. It'll become like a second awareness, hovering on the edges of your consciousness. Like how you feel your magic inside of you. Always there, but you don't really think about it until you focus on it. And as you focus in, you'll be able to sense what's in there. Like Erza flipping through a rack of clothes to pick armor."

Lucy already had her eyes closed and was practicing the meditative breathing she'd worked on that morning, trying to reach out. She thought she felt something ー a tingle on the edges of her senses ー but she could tell this would be more of struggle.

Torin grinned as she pouted. "It's not that bad. Since you already reach for other worlds, it'll come more easily than you think. And the better you get at meditation, the better you'll be able to reach your magic out for this. And the better you get at reaching out with your magic, the more active your Celestial ability will become. It's all connected really, just gotta get the basics down."

As the broader picture came into view, excitement coursed through Lucy. Painful though leaving home was, she'd been right to choose this journey.

By the end of the week on the ship, she was able to feel her 'pocket,' although still hadn't moved the pebble into it. She, Lona, and Capricorn had worked out the best training strategy to increase her Celestial combat ability (she was completely ready to market the term 'Celestial combat'). Hopefully within a month she'd be able to concentrate starlight in a focused version of Urano Metria, and be able to begin mastering a couple Stardresses.

Lucy knew her magical and physical growth would be a long road, but the success of her first week had boosted her confidence already.

And then they came into port.

They'd gotten two rooms at an inn, with the guise of being tourists. Lucy and Lona shared one room while Rai and Torin got the other. Lucy had found out they were dating on the second night, when some, uh, _interesting_ sounds had come through the wall of her cabin. Lona had just laughed and tossed her some earplugs before going back to her book.

Lucy couldn't help but think of Natsu as she watched them work together. They did it seamlessly, supporting each other's ideas and strategies while still avoiding the lovey-doveyness that might've made her or Lona feel excluded. The PDA, apparently, was kept behind closed doors or to times the team weren't on an active mission.

Her traitorous heart showed her a vision of herself and Natsu operating much the same way. Sitting on the bed in her room at the inn, she shook her head fiercely to rid herself of it. Sure, she liked him. Sure, he was attractive. And her best friend, a supportive one at that, and he had saved her life a million and one times. But she'd been nearly as surprised by that kiss as he had. And then she'd run away!

Who knew what the future held for them now?

Putting it out of her mind, she focused on the map of the harbor and port town once more.

After reserving the rooms, they'd gone for a seemingly casual tour of the town. Lucy and Lona had split into a team, while Rai and Torin 'acted' the part of a loving couple out on a date. _So much for the PDA only off mission thing_ , she'd giggled to Lona as they watched them splitting a milkshake as they wandered off.

She and Lona had scoped out the market square, looking like any two friends out for a day of shopping. And hey, maybe Lucy couldn't quite resist that pair of blue wedges. The shopping bag helped with their cover, ok?

And when the timing was right, they "accidentally" wandered into the warehouse district.

The town was a hub of activity and the port was enormous, but most items were moved in and out of the town very quickly. That meant that there were a large number of warehouses that held cargo for a few days only before standing empty again, waiting for their next delivery.

That made it difficult to find the captives, but luckily the efficiency of the town had placed all the buildings together, narrowing their search radius. And luckily, the slavers would have very specific requirements.

"Ok," Lona muttered, opening a detailed map with a befuddled expression, like she was hopelessly lost, "they'll need somewhere out of the way but close to the water. Most of the people here are honest and they can't afford to get found out."

Lucy pushed her oversized sunglasses up her nose and twirled her shopping bag as she leaned over Lona's shoulder. They'd chosen a few buildings that fit their qualifications before they'd left and she oriented on the closest one.

"Let's go."

* * *

Three hours later they met Rai and Torin back at the inn. They ate dinner in Lucy and Lona's room, hunched over maps and notes on the room service tray.

"So we're pretty sure it's gonna be this building here," Lona pointed to one of six buildings they'd scouted out that day. "It's right on the water and a bit away from everything else. Windows are boarded, there's a big garage they can keep wagons in, _and_ there were these thugs going in and out. Preparing, probably."

Rai nodded and requipped an old notebook into her hand. Lucy looked on, a little jealous. Torin had taught both the other women the basics of requip, and they could now carry a few small things related to their magic with them.

Rai opened the book and touched a finger to it, allowing her ink to run down into the page, where it formed into letters. Seeing Lucy's impressed look, she grinned.

"Book mage crafted it for me. It can only be read when I touch it with my magic. Add that to the requip and it's perfect for keeping our notes."

She ran a finger down the page. "The harbormaster was a creep, so I acted like a bubblehead and Torin snuck into the back. Twelve ships have put into port today, but only one that docked right by that warehouse. It's called _Siren's Squall_. About the size we're looking for."

Torin jumped in. "We coordinated with the local branch of the wizard's council. They'll have a couple people watching the other buildings we originally picked out, just in case, and will have backup for us to get the captives out. We'll have to sneak in and get as much information as we can and hopefully snag the leader of the op. If the Knights storm the place too soon whoever's in charge might slip out through the back."

"We don't have a blueprint of the building, do we?" Lucy asked.

Rai shook her head. "Just gonna have to wing it, I think."

"Damn."

Everyone nodded glum agreement. Lona perked up. "You guys sure we can't just storm the ship? I like storming things!"

Rai laughed. "I'm sure we'll get to storm something eventually, but these scumbags seem like the type to put a hole in the side of the boat and leave the hostages before letting us get any info. They know we'd save their victims before going after the gang members."

Lucy felt a little ill at the thought. How could people do something like that?

"Wouldn't they at least not want to lose the boat, though?" she whispered.

Lona sighed, all levity gone. "This has been our only lead on getting close to this organization. They're tight-knit, secretive, and their operations are well-oiled. Overpowering them will have to happen fast, because if they have room to maneuver, they've proven they'll take the bloody option without hesitation."

"I hope we can prevent it, but people might die if we're not good enough," Torin's grave baritone rounded out the conversation. There was a somber silence as the quartet weighed the lives of the innocents depending on them.

Rai clapped her hands once, startling the others. "Well if we're gonna be on top of our game, let's get some rest. These asswipes won't unload until midnight, so we'll be ready to go save some lives in three hours, yes?"

"Aye, sir!" Lucy chorused with the other three. Determination rolled through her; they were not going to let these people hurt anyone else!

* * *

Two hours after nightfall found the quartet skulking on a rooftop of a warehouse parallel to their target. They were all dressed in black from head to toe, with lightweight backpacks in case they found any evidence worth taking.

Lucy listened as Rai quietly sounded off via communication lacrima with the town's police force. They'd borrowed night-vision binoculars from the Knights (Lucy had at first wanted some, then realized that if Mira ever learned of their existence no one would be safe. She'd go without.) and Lucy focused hers on the doorway closest to the water.

The warehouse was set back from the harbor edge about fifty feet. The slave boat, so they hoped, was anchored at the closest jetty. It was a good choice. The area was deserted and there were almost no streetlights. Any time now…

A creak, amplified by the water, sounded from the ship. Lucy's head snapped up and she frantically refocused her goggles. For a moment everything was still.

 _There._

A man emerged from a hatch on the deck, and although he was too far away for her to make out much more than his burly outline, even with the goggles, she could read his threatening stance and see the gun in his arms. He was followed by two more thugs.

And then, one by one, the people of the burnt out village she'd been in a week ago filed out of the hatch and off the ship, herded by the men.

As they came closer she could make out more details. They had men, women, kids but no young children or any elderly people. Beneath her rage she remembered that those were the people that made it out to warn the council. It seemed that either the dark guild didn't care enough to see them as the threat or, thank the gods, didn't have the stomach to harm the most defenseless of their prey.

As she watched one of the men shove a young girl roughly, she thought it might be the former. When the doors had closed behind the last person stumbling into the warehouse, the team rose around her.

"How many?" whispered Rai.

"Maybe eighty to one hundred," muttered Torin. "Hard to keep count when they bunch them together and herd them like that."

Lona was issuing rapid fire instructions through the communication lacrimas. "Ok, guys. Team Delta is going to shut down the ship. Team Alpha has the exit points covered, and Team Echo is set up to stop any caravans of prisoners they might try to take out. Let's get in there and get what we can."

She stepped up to the edge of the roof and pulled a ski mask over her face before holding out her hands. Rai and Torin each latched onto an arm and Lucy, swallowing harshly, followed suit.

Rai lifted her arm, pointing toward a metal pipe sticking out of the top of the building. A thick rope of ink shot out of her skin, winding itself around the pipe before the ends seamlessly blended into each other. A second rope twisted around her other forearm and a thread wrapped around each companion's chest.

Rai nodded to Lona, who winked at Lucy before leaning back, pulling them off the roof and sending them plummeting to the street four stories below.

Lucy's scream lodged in her throat as she fought her fear. Her feet kicked out wildly without her permission, desperately seeking purchase on nothing as she hurtled through the air.

A soft amethyst glow caught her eye, and then her stomach lurched as their flight slowed dramatically. She gasped for air as she stared at Lona, whose gravity magic combined with Rai's rope had changed their rapid freefall to a smooth glide.

Now she remembered why Lona had to wear a ski mask. It was muted, but she was definitely glowing a little bit. What a pain in the ass.

They touched down softly, and Lucy took a moment to compose herself while Rai released her magic, and Lona's eyes disappeared into darkness.

"Ok guys, remember that we don't have a lot of time. They could be throwing the prisoners in wagons right now, so let's go!" Rai hissed.

They split into predetermined teams and headed for the two entrances Lona and Lucy had identified on their morning shopping trip. Now that she was faced with the reality of the mission, it seemed very long ago.

She swallowed her trepidation and followed Torin closely as he made his way around the building. They reached their destination: a boarded up basement window. The blonde eyed it, then turned her skeptical gaze on Torin. There was no way he'd be fitting in there. With a swish of a key, she called Virgo.

"Princess, you called?" the spirit stood before her, head bowed. Torin waved enthusiastically, if silently. Virgo had brought him a cooking pot from the spirit world when he'd been giving Lucy some cooking tips and he had been thoroughly delighted with the gift.

"Virgo, I need you to widen this window for us to fit through, and quietly!"

"Of course, Princess." Efficient as ever, the window was cleared and an extra foot drilled away from the perimeter in under a minute.

"Thanks, Virgo," Lucy smiled. "And no punishment, ok?"

To her surprise the maid responded gravely, "This one cannot ask for punishment now, not when so many souls are suffering from a punishment they did not ask for." She vanished into the spirit world with barely a flicker.

Lucy wished she had a moment to ponder on the conversation, but Torin was already inside and motioning to her through the hole in the wall. Shaking it away, she slipped into the building behind him.

They'd landed in a musty, narrow corridor. It was dark, but a faint light directed them toward the end of the hall. A door there led them up a rickety staircase to another set of halls on the main floor. These were lit by dusty light lacrimas that flickered strangely as they went by. They passed a few doors that might've been offices, and Lucy wanted to stop and look, but as they ventured on a muted noise slowly grew in volume, until they snuck through a last door into the main floor of the warehouse and it became a cacophony of misery.

Stepping through the door, Lucy was assaulted by smell and sound. She froze for a second, before Torin's large hand closed around her forearm and yanked her behind a large curtain hanging from the wall, probably to muffle the noise. Together they peaked through a rip in the faded fabric.

It hadn't been a large building, and the main room was stuffed to the brim. The captives were all there, and the thugs from the boat. New men barked orders and shuffled captives in a seemingly random manner. Slaves cried out as they were pulled brutally away from loved ones. The stench of unwashed bodies pressed into Lucy's nose, suffocating her.

She pulled back from the curtain and closed her eyes. She had to do this. She would be of no use to these people by hiding behind a moldy drape. She looked again.

This time, she was able to make out a pattern amongst the chaos. There were several large cages set up over different areas of the room. The traffickers appeared to be sorting people by physical fitness. Anyone that looked strong was sent to one cage, while a more feeble group was sent to another. A third cage sat apart from the others, with only a few people in it. They were shackled with an odd metal, an almost bluish shine to it.

"Mages," Torin muttered in her ear. "The cuffs are special. Magic nullifying. We have to be very, very careful."

She nodded. Knowing that the enemy could neutralize magic was bad news indeed.

"C'mon, ya lazy bastards! All this cargo has to be outta here in two hours! Finish the sorting and get 'em moved to the wagons already!" a small, rat-faced man standing on a block of wood was shouting from the middle of the room. "Jorge! I wanted those damn tallies ten minutes ago! C'mon!"

Behind the curtain, Lucy and Torin shared a look and nodded. He tapped their communication lacrima lightly three times. A second later, it crackled to life and Rai's voice whispered out.

"We're here. In the cargo bay. They're setting up wagons."

"We're in the main room. They're sorting people. Some ugly rat guy is giving orders, says they gotta move em all to where you are," Torin muttered into the lacrima while Lucy kept an eye on the room.

"Thanks. We'll alert the guards outside to be ready for the wagons to come out. It looks like they keep their destination info here, too. We'll get all of that."

"Ok. We'll slip back to some offices. Let us know when they bring people in on your end and we'll double back to grab this leader asshole. If we go in now we'll be overwhelmed and people might get hurt."

"Roger that. Good luck."

"You too."

Torin shoved the lacrima back in his pockets, turning to see Lucy already sliding back into the hallway. He followed, and they ghosted back the way they'd come. There were five doors along the hall. Carefully, Torin tried the first handle. They peered around the doorjamb with bated breath… only to be confronted with a closet.

The second door was a dingy bathroom, and the third held an assortment of pallets and straps for securing loads. Lucy assumed that more legitimate businesses made use of these. Clearly, she thought sourly, pallets would be useless when the 'cargo' moved on its own.

They hit jackpot on the fourth door. A desk sat in the middle of the room piled high with papers. An old wooden chair sat behind it, and a table was pushed against one wall, with more papers spread across it. There were no filing cabinets in the room, but several large suitcases on wheels stood open, revealing accordian folders. Clearly this was but a temporary stop for a mobile operation. It made sense; they couldn't leave these papers laying around for the next group to use the space.

Lucy and Torin moved quickly. Closing the door behind them, she took the table while he focused on the desk. Wary of time, Lucy didn't try to read anything, shoving everything into her backpack. She'd nearly cleared the table when the lacrima crackled. Torin tapped it to reveal Rai.

"They're coming in now. Knights are standing by to stop the wagons and arrest everyone as soon as they open the outer doors. Less issues if everyone is out of the way in wagons, I think."

"Got it, we'll circle around and join you in a minute," Torin replied, sweeping the rest of the papers off the desk and into his pack. Lucy cringed at the crinkling of paper, the author in her twitching to straighten the pages.

He grinned at her as they both closed their packs. "Looks like this Op might go off nice and smooth."

Which, of course, was the moment everything went to hell.

The door behind them burst open, two meaty thugs stepping into the room. They both sported close cropped crew cuts and what looked like cattle prods strapped to their sides, the tips buzzing ominously with an ugly magic promising pain.

There was a frozen moment where the four of them eyed each other. Then everyone went for their weapons.

Thug number one got his taser out its holster, only for Lucy to snap her whip out to slash at his wrist. He dropped it, cursing, and hurled himself bodily at her. Side-stepping, Lucy twisted a knee up and into his stomach. As he wheezed, she used a new trick she'd learned that week and slid in front of him, grabbing his arm and twisting her hips and trunk to flip him to the ground.

She turned to see the second man rushing Torin, who grabbed the chair sitting behind the desk and did his best impression of a crack baseball player hitting a homerun. The man slammed into the wall near the door, slumping to the floor.

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. Torin came over and helped her drag her opponent upright, handing her a coil of rope for his wrists. "Nice moves, Lucy. You're picking this up quick. We shouldー _HEY!_ "

Lucy whipped around. The second man was no longer on the floor, but halfway across the room and reaching up for a lever on the wall. She and Torin both lunged for him, but too late, he had pulled the handle down.

An alarm blared out over the warehouse. The thug smirked at them before Torin punched him in the face, successfully knocking him out cold this time. Lucy followed him to the door.

"We gotta get to Lona and Rai. If everyone isn't in the wagons and the Knights aren't all in position there are going to be casualties." Torin's mouth was set in a grim slash.

They burst out of the office, packs safely secured to their backs, only to be confronted by seven men, all holding those crackling cattle prods. Lucy and Torin barely slowed down.

Lucy slashed out at the first two men with her whip, other hand dropping to her keys. She pulled out the one she wanted and in a flash Aries was by her side, wrapping her two opponents in layers and layers of wool. Lucy chanced a look over at Torin.

Her jaw dropped.

She hadn't seen any of the three of them in active combat yet, and frankly if you'd asked her this morning she wouldn't have guessed that a cook mage would be all that much use. She was rapidly reconsidering.

With a flick of his wrist, her partner had requipped three large knives. He threw the first man bodily into the wall and set a knife to his throat, where it remained. Any attempts the man made to pull it away from his throat were useless. She'd seen Erza hold nearly a hundred swords in the air at once, but had never seen this tactic used against multiple opponents.

Torin flipped another man to the ground, a knife following him as well, before kicking a third thug into the wall, leaving his third knife to his throat. Two men were left, and Lucy yanked the feet out from under one with her whip as Torin met the other head on. He had requipped a meat cleaver and a ladle into his hands. The last thug shoved his taser at the chef, who dodged it narrowly and brought down the cleaver, breaking it in two. He then swung the heavy metal ladle upwards, smashing the man in the chin and knocking him out cold.

Lucy and Aries bound their men in woolen cords while Torin requipped a small spray bottle into his hand. He moved over to the three men still held immobile with his blades at their throats and, carefully out of range, spritzed each of them once in the face before exquipping his knife.

Each man dropped like a stone, snoring on the hallway floor. Torin caught Lucy's look as Aries vanished. "Sleeping potion," he grunted, continuing on down the hall now that they'd cleared it of enemies, "should be good for an hour or so."

They ran through the cramped halls, following the sounds of battle. Reaching the final double doors to the loading room, Torin didn't hesitate to kick them in and throw himself into the brawl. Lucy was a tad more sedate, taking a few seconds to get her bearings in the insanity.

It was a large room, bigger than the main room where the captives had been sorted. The UnderLords had nearly fifty members fighting, she hastily estimated, and they only had twenty Knights. There were teams outside still, but they had to remain where they were to stop any escapees. Half the captives were in wagons against the walls, and the other half was doing everything they could to get the hell out of the way. They only succeeded in confusing the battle even more. With this many innocents and gang members, it was only a matter of time before the mages were overwhelmed.

At least, that's what should have happened.

Lucy stood stock still, jaw agape as she watched her new team deal out the pain. Torin had his cleaver and ladle out, and she watched as a cast iron pan materialized in over an enemy, clanging down on top of his head before reappearing over someone else.

Lona was easy to spot in the crowd, since she was a luminescent purple. She shot what looked like tiny asteroids of violet light at opponents, slamming them backward and into the ground.

Across the room, Rai stood in front of the door to the streets. From the inkspot on her elbow cables wrapped around and down her forearms, lifting out of her skin at the wrist in one thick chain. One arose from each arm, both ending in a wickedly curved sickle. She held onto them as they twisted through the air, swerving around innocents and fellow fighters to slam into her opponents. As Lucy watched, she manipulated the sickle to slice the sharp end through their weapons before the dull side curved back up to hit them in the face.

Needless to say, no one was getting out the door.

Lucy pulled herself together as a woman ran by her, screaming. One of the UnderLords chased her, and Lucy tripped him before kicking him in the face to keep him down. She called Sagittarius to her.

"Moshi Moshi!" the spirit whinnied his usual greeting. "May I help you with these scoundrels, Lady Lucy?"

"Hell yeah, let's do it!"

Sagittarius knocked several arrows to his bow at once and fired into the crowd. The UnderLords were dropping like flies, and the tide of battle was turning. Lucy felt a surge of victory.

A sharp, sudden sting blossomed across her cheek, and she clapped a hand to her face, vaguely noting that her fingers came away red. She felt too hot, and had that ringing sound always been there?

She felt Sagittarius' gate collapse as she wavered. An abrupt shove sent her to one knee and she heard the door behind her slam. What was happening? A pink blur on the ground caught her eye and she focused with difficulty. Was that… a dart?

Fuck. It totally was. Blearily she looked up to see Torin waving frantically at her while fending off three thugs. He threw something at her.

She lifted a hand and his aim was true, but in her confused state she fumbled the catch. The bottle fell, smashing onto the ground. Which, apparently, was the point as fumes from the pale blue concoction wafted up into her face.

After a few breaths her head felt clearer, and she was able to orient on the battle again. She saw Rai's face, eyes wide and mouth open, yelling something. Another breath of the fumes, and she was able to focus and make out the words.

"The leader, Lucy! We have to catch him!"

It clicked. The long range attack. The people who had shoved by her to reach the door. It must be the rat faced man in charge of the sorting she'd seen earlier. And it was doubtful he'd run alone.

She stumbled upright, forcing herself to move. Whatever Torin had in his bottle had worked wonders, but she was still fuzzy. No matter. This had to get done. She snagged the dart that had sliced across her face and brought it along with her.

She shambled as quickly as possible down the hall, breathing deep to help clear her head. She checked doors as she went, and she found them in the office she and Torin had ransacked earlier. The leader had two men with him. They didn't carry tasers, and didn't have the standard issue crew cuts and turtlenecks, either. All three of them whirled around as she slammed open the door.

Lucy couldn't afford to hesitate, and before any of them could do more than blink she'd thrown the dart in her hand. She did it nearly on instinct, still under the influence but hoping against hope that there was still magic left in its tip.

She nailed the rat faced leader directly between the eyes, in a shot she knew she couldn't duplicate. It didn't lessen the smug victory she felt as he collapsed, offended shock clear on his face.

Unfortunately, that still left two men to deal with, and there was only so much luck she could rely on. Especially as one man conjured sparks between his fingers and the other visibly grew a few inches.

Time for Plan B. Lucy turned on her heel and took off running, the two mages at her heels.

The alarm was still blaring as the building shook from a magical blast. Lucy ducked down a side hallway, trying to wipe the blood from her eyes as she sprinted, mindful of the precious cargo on her back. How the hell had she gotten herself into this mess?

She burst through the door to the sorting room and threw herself behind some crates, yanking out her whip and picking through her keys for the right one. She'd be doubling down on that requip training after this.

The dark mages ran into the room a moment later, skidding to a halt. Good. She'd been worried that one would follow her while the other got their leader to safety. On the downside, now she had to fight them both while she was low on power.

She flicked her key, hissing, "Leo!" as quietly as she dared. He appeared, eyes narrowed, and nodded to her. That was a great thing about Loke; he instinctively understood what was needed. She went right and he rolled left, appearing from behind the crates and slamming into their opponents with matched flying kicks.

Loke took the lightning guy, which left Lucy with the mage who by now had grown to almost seven feet tall. His shoulders had broadened and he was layered with slabs of muscle. Her prized kick had barely moved him back three steps. He roared, leaning forward to punch the ground in an intimidating show of strength. The concrete cracked.

Great.

He lunged at her, and Lucy dodged to the side. He ran an extra few steps before bringing his massive body to a halt, turning with a growl.

A light lacrima flicked on above Lucy's head. She took three steps to the left and cracked her whip. "C'mon, ugly! Don't tell me you're afraid of a little girl!"

The man snarled and charged her again. Lucy snapped her whip out, letting it curl around the base of a metal pole before throwing herself to the side at the last moment, pulling the line taut.

The mage once more hurtled past her, his size and weight working against him. His foot caught on her whip, and Lucy had to use all her strength not to get dragged along with him as he tripped and tumbled face first into the cage she'd strategically stood in front of.

Jumping up, she slammed the door and hastily locked it. She'd chosen the one with the odd blue-hued metal, and as the mage grabbed a bar and was thrown back with a howl, she allowed herself the satisfaction of having correctly identified it as an magic-nullifying cage.

Turning around, she watched Loke slam the lightning mage into the ground before straightening his tie.

"Lucy, you're hurt." He reached up to brush the bloody cut on her cheek but she waved him away.

"I'm ok, Loke. C'mon, we gotta get back to the office!"

They hurried down the corridors back to the office. The leader was just where she'd left him. Lucy shut off the alarm while Loke bound her prisoner. He graciously offered to drag the man for her, and she accepted. (Yeah, yeah, she knew he'd just use it as an excuse to ask her out for dinner, and she was on this journey to be self sufficient and strong, but she'd thrown herself off a building and been hit with a dart in the _face_ today. She wasn't about to turn him down.)

They reentered the loading room to find it swarming with Knights. In a happy reversal, the UnderLords were in chains while their prisoners were set free. Men and women alike were holding each other and sobbing with the joy of their sudden freedom. Lucy spotted her team sitting against a wall and exhaustedly made her way over to them, stopping only briefly to hand off her captive to a Knight and report the other men left in the sorting room.

Loke left in a shower of gold, but not before attempting to kiss her hand and offering a private foot massage. Lucy sent him on his way and slumped down next to Rai, who ruffled her hair.

"Nice job! Way to use that asshole's own weapon against him," the other mage looked satisfied with the outcome of their raid. She stood, stretched, then held out a hand to Lucy.

"Let's get back to the hotel. The Knights have everyone secured and are bringing in reinforcements and their own prisoner transport. We can interview everyone tomorrow. It's time for some sleep now, I think."

That sounded good to Lucy. She took Rai's hand and let the woman pull her to her feet. Together the team started back to the hotel, laughing and joking now that they'd succeeded in the first step of their mission.

Lucy hung back for a moment as Lona unlocked their room. Her mind wandered to Magnolia. Instead of the heartache she'd felt throughout the week, right now she felt a sense of peace and extraordinary pride.

She rather thought Natsu would be proud of her.

* * *

 **Hope everyone enjoyed! Shoot me a review, I love to chat. Another huge thanks to my beta, Lady Lutka! FYI, although this is heavily Lucy-centric, we won't stay in Lucy view the entire story. I would never deprive you guys of Natsu and the FT crew. We'll peek in on them next chapter.**

 **This week's shoutout goes to LoadedEel! Awesome, action packed writing. Go read her work and drop her a line regarding her ongoing story, _Stolen!_**

 **If anyone has an author that they absolutely adore, please please tell me about them so that I can a) go read their stuff if I haven't already and b)shoutout to them.**

 **Have a great week and I'll see you all next time!**


	5. Team Ceartas

**Welcome back, everyone! We're gonna check in on Natsu and Fairy Tail a little bit this week, and as always continue on with Lucy on her journey. Content Note: as you know, we are getting into the topic of human trafficking here, and in this chapter there is mention of sexual assault and allusion to rape.**

 **With that said, please enjoy the chapter and drop me a review.**

* * *

He couldn't believe it had only been a week. And he _really_ couldn't believe he'd managed to be patient for the whole thing. Walking home after watching her train (ugh, trains) chug out of the station had to be one of the hardest things he'd ever done. Despite the mission and fight with Gray, he'd still beat the hell out of a few trees when he got home, before finally collapsing into bed.

When he woke up the next morning, fuzzy from sleep, he'd swung out of his hammock and made it halfway out the door to go see her before remembering. It brought a weird mixture of longing, anger, and sadness that he really didn't know what to do with.

At first he'd been in denial. Maybe Gray really had clocked him in the head too hard with his stupid icicles. The thought, the hope, had been strong enough to send him running to Lucy's, thankful that Happy had stayed with Wendy the night before.

When he got there she was gone, of course, and he buried himself instinctually in her pillows for a moment. Just breathing her in. But it wasn't really Lucy, and as he hauled himself up he saw her letter.

Anger bit him, then. How could she have done that to him? To just…leave with just a letter. Who did that? And when he stopped her and they…he cut off the thought. He couldn't process it just yet. Couldn't really process any of it when he was this pissed off. A thick stack of her writing sat on the table and in a fit of childish rage he picked the whole thing up and flung it across the room, making it rain pages like snow.

Then he stomped into her kitchen, kicking a chair across the room when it got in his way, and angrily proceeded to eat the entirety of her fridge and cupboards. Served her right.

But as he munched down the last of it, he couldn't help but think about the way she made him fire chicken or pasta extra spicy how he liked it, and how her eyes brightened as she scolded him for his manners, and how he'd be extra messy because he liked it when her cheeks flushed red…

The longing was back. Surely she hadn't meant what she said about a full break, right? And she might be in trouble! Taking the letter, he ran for the guild.

"But Gramps! I'm her team! You gotta let me go!" Natsu had raged, snarled, wheedled, and had been reduced to begging in the old man's office. The rest of the team was outside in the guildhall with Lucy's letter, being served by a consoling Mira.

"Natsu, I'm sorry. I will not tell you where she is. This is for Lucy to have a chance to grow on her own. She won't be gone forever, and she will come back to you," Makarov sighed. "Perhaps you could use this as a chance to grow and train as well. Try missions with new people, stretch yourself. You will both come back stronger than ever."

"And frankly, my boy," he pierced Natsu with his gaze, "you might use this time to learn to place some trust in your partner's abilities, and learn some patience." He regarded the slayer's miserable face. "You hadn't opened that letter when you arrived. How did Lucy convince you to stay behind last night?" he was interrupted by the door closing as the fire mage rapidly exited the office. He sighed, glad that he was too old for the passions and angst of youth.

Natsu drooped over the bar, boneless and depressed. His anger had all but burned out after Gramp's last words. Had he driven Lucy to this? To leaving? But then why had she kissed him? And why had he kissed back and then let her go? Mired in sluggish sadness after his rollercoaster of a morning, Natsu couldn't muster up the energy to think about it. All he could do was stroke Happy's fur as the feline snuggled next to him for comfort.

The fire chicken that slid under his nose an hour later helped perk him up a bit, though. And he couldn't help a weak chuckle at Happy diving and swooping for fish that Lisanna tossed into the air for him. She was a good friend.

She'd stuck by him all week, making sure he was ok. They'd run around in the woods together, taken Happy fishing, and talked about missions at the bar. It was like old times again, and having her to talk to eased him back out of his misery and allowed him to start to accept Lucy's absence. Not that it didn't stop him from thinking about her... and his dreams to heavily feature her in ways his conscious mind was trying to avoid still.

He missed Lucy fiercely, and it took everything he had not to run down the tracks and ask if anyone had seen her at each stop. Lisanna helped hold him back, giving him something to do every day to occupy his time.

For some reason though, he couldn't talk to her about Lucy. Or to Happy, or anyone else for that matter. What they'd shared right before she left...it seemed so private. Something he wanted to keep for himself, to hoard.

So he kept quiet and stayed home, but it didn't stop him from craving her return fiercely. On the sixth day after she left, Master threw him out of the guild. Literally, through a hole he'd just blasted in the wall while proving to Gray and everyone else who the best wizard was.

"Enough! Here!" he elongated one arm to snatch a request off the wall and flatten it onto Natsu's face where he lay in the street. "You've been impossible all week! Go burn off some energy beating the hell out of some monsters, and you'll be giving me half the reward for all the repairs I need to make!"

That seemed more than fair to Natsu, since he'd burned half the tables and blown up a staircase yesterday alone, so he tucked the request into his pocket and off he went. Accompanied, of course, by Happy, and Lisanna surprised him by appearing at his door with a backpack as he left. It was nice of her to come, but he hoped she didn't hog too many monsters to herself.

They hiked up to Mt. Hakobe, the wind growing bitter. Lisanna had sensibly brought fur lined gear, and Natsu felt a pang as he thought of Lucy shivering inside Horogium. Thankfully, they'd been immediately attacked by at least twenty Vulcans and he was thoroughly and enjoyably distracted.

It was as he launched one of the last apes away from him that he caught the scent of stardust. It was coming from the direction of the now flailing Vulcan and he didn't hesitate to run after it. Lisanna and Happy were working together on the last enemy and they would have no trouble with it. He clocked his Vulcan on the head almost absently as he passed, nose in the air, following the whiff of a dream.

Lucy couldn't be here, could she? It seemed impossible, but he only smelled stardust around her or her spirits…hope flared wildly in his chest. It was coming from just behind those rocks…

There was no one there. His disappointment was crushing, but the smell drove him on. At the base of one rock, he brushed away the snow. There, half frozen in the dirt, was a small lump of metal. It was an odd, reflective silver, and its scent was so pure he sneezed all over it. Whoops.

It must be a meteorite. Carefully, he picked it up, inspecting it. He thought that if he put some wildflowers next to it, it would smell almost exactly like Lucy.

"Natsuuuu!"

His sensitive ears perked at his friends calling his name and he pocketed the rock before running back to them, casually blasting a Vulcan who tried to grab his ankle on the way. Gramps had been right to give him this mission.

When they got back, he carefully picked some pretty flowers out of the meadow by his house, and put them in a tin glass next to his rock. If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend that Lucy was there.

* * *

Lucy woke up groggy and disoriented. Squinting at the clock, she cursed a rolled out of bed. No wonder she felt off; after being up all night she'd slept in until early afternoon. Brushing her teeth and throwing a brush through her hair, she hurried out of the room and hopped down the hallway on one foot, yanking her boots on.

Emerging into the main room of the inn, she gratefully accepted a plate from the innkeeper before heading down the hall to a private study they'd rented out.

Entering the room, she found Rai poring over all the paperwork they'd picked up last night.

"Hey, Lucy! I'm glad you're here, maybe you can help me sort out this mess," the other mage yawned, running a hand through her loose hair. It was thick and flowed down her back in waves, reminding Lucy of a sleepy lion. She grinned to herself as she sat down with her plate and pulled some of the papers toward her.

"Where are Torin and Lona?"

"They're went to interview the captives at the town hospital. We pretty much filled the place to capacity last night. The poor staff over there have not only the people we rescued but any injuries to the UnderLords, and there are a _lot_ of injuries. Plus all the knights that are over there guarding them. I'm happy on paper duty, thanks. Later we'll meet up and interrogate the unharmed gang members and work out the next steps with the knights."

"Sounds good. Looks like we got a ton of information here. Let's get started!"

Rai nodded, smiling. "I saw that half these papers are nice and neat and the rest are crumpled to hell. I'm guessing it was Torin that smashed his part of the papers up?"

Lucy chuckled. "Uh, yeah, he was in a hurry!"

The tattoo mage shook her head, ironing out pages on the side of the table. Lucy caught an exasperated mutter of "that man!" but also caught the fond smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Smiling herself, Lucy starting flipping through her own stack.

It was several hours later that both women stretched, joints popping, and walked out of the inn to meet the other half of their information they'd found had been reviewed and condensed down a few pages of notes and a map, where they'd marked a couple places the traffickers seemed to be taking people. Lona had called to let them know to come to the station, and when they got there it took a moment to find their teammates amid the chaos of officers processing last night.

They finally found Lona by the coffee machine and she brought them into a back room, chattering. "We talked to everyone at the hospital. Not able to glean much from the captives, but we got the UnderLords to fess up a bit about the sorting process. We can't get the leader to talk, though. Not even my moonstones and mind fuzzing is working! Maybe you guys can have a crack at it."

Torin was in the meeting room with two people he introduced as the knight's captain and the Director of Bosco's Division of Trafficking. Everyone sat down and grabbed a sandwich that Torin had somehow found time to make.

The head of trafficking, Ahosi, began. She was a tall woman, with dark skin and hair cropped close to her head. Her deep, expressive brown eyes were hardened with years of experience and determination. "I cannot tell you how much we appreciate your help and cooperation. We've been after Malleolus for years and have only ever taken down a few individuals associated with the UnderLords. This could be what we need to break open some of the biggest rings in Bosco."

She pulled the transcripts of interviews and the paper summary toward her. "We still need to speak with the head of this part of the operation, but it looks like they sort into two groups and send them to two places. The first group goes to Artos…it's a city nearer the border of Fiore. Known trafficking hub, but the city is vast and it makes it hard to pin one group down. But if that little rat-faced coward will talk, my agents there might be able to blow their whole operation wide open. Once we do that we can start tracking down the people that were taken."

The captain of the knights, a short and stocky man who nonetheless carried himself with a powerful confidence, answered. "Then we'll leave that half of this operation to your people. The other group seems like it has more to do with Malleolus' direct goal. That part," he looked at Team Ceartas, "you four should spearhead. You've proven yourselves to be an elite team."

Lucy preened a little at that. She couldn't help it. She quickly brought herself back to reality as Rai set out the map they'd marked earlier.

"We have an approximate location based on these notes, and it looks like we can narrow it further based on your interviews with the underlings," she told Lona and Torin. "They're taking the strongest and healthiest people up into the mountains. We don't know why."

Lona leaned forward. "They also aren't taking any mages with them to the mountains. Why not?"

The Director of Trafficking spoke, her face grim. "Mages sell for quite a bit, and there are ways to control a single mage. If they fear those with magic would have an easier time revolting in whatever setting they have up there, why not turn a profit?"

Lucy shuddered. She could never imagine being forced into slavery and made to use her magic for someone else's purpose.

"So," Rai's voice broke into her thoughts. "We need the leader to talk in order get the specific location and details. Anyone got any ideas on how to do that?"

Lucy blinked. "I can do it."

Everyone stared at her. The captain spoke up, disbelief clear in his voice, "Just like that? Six people have tried today, girl. What makes you think you can?"

Lucy felt her hackles rise at his tone, but she kept her face smooth like she'd been taught in her childhood. She graced him with her best high society smile.

"If you'll show me where he's being kept, _sir,_ I'll demonstrate."

She caught grins from her teammates and a glimmer of approval from Ahosi. She sashayed down the hall to the holding cells after the grumbling captain, picking out the key she wanted. It warmed in her hand, almost gleefully.

The leader sat on the hard cot along one side of his cell. Thick manacles around his wrists attached to short chains welded into the wall. As a guard unlocked the cell for her and her audience crowded around the bars, he looked up. A sneer twisted his narrow features. He looked past her to the captain.

"So we're giving up on the usual methods, huh? Gonna send in the bimbo stripper to fuck the information outta me? Don't see why you need an audience for that!" he laughed, leering back at Lucy.

His crass disrespect made her want to kick him through the solid stone wall, but she held back. The helpless women in cages she'd seen on the sorting floor gave her a cold patience. Without his knowledge she couldn't help those women still trapped under callous men much like him.

She swiped her key through the air with more force than necessary. "Open, Gate of the Twins! Gemini!"

The little blue spirits popped out of the gate with twin pings, their usual smile absent. It seemed they could feel her rage. "Piri, piri, Lucy. This man here?"

"Please, and anything about his trafficking route."

They transformed instantly, and Lucy was treated to the pleasure of the sound of six jaws hitting the ground. The prisoner let out a shout, scooting frantically backward into the corner.

"What the hell kind of witchcraft is this?!"

Gemini spoke in a detached voice, a studied contrast to the panicking man next to them. "Logan Harris, forty-four. Joined the UnderLords ten years ago because he wanted power over others and has been part of trafficking ever since. Brings half of his 'cargo' to Artos and the other half to the Burangi mountains to be used for mining. He does not know what they are digging for but assumes it is valuable."

Lucy passed her spirits a map and some paper. They bent over it and confidently began marking the location of the mine and the route used by the traffickers. Then they turned to the paper, on one piece writing all the details Ahosi would need in Artos before drawing a scaled map of the mine on the next.

"There is one road in and out of the mine and a bridge over a ravine. It is heavily guarded, and a wooden wall and gate surrounds the area. There are some barracks and slave houses, and a larger cabin for the mine foreman. There is another wall around the ore they bring out so he has never seen it. That's all he knows."

Gemini finished their drawing and handed it to Lucy before reverting back to their original forms. She gave them a big hug and a whispered thanks before sending them back to their realm.

Then she stalked out of the cell, ignoring both the prisoner's terrified demands for an explanation and the captain's slack jawed acknowledgement. She handed off the papers to Rai and excused herself to the herself inside one of the two dilapidated stalls, she let her head drop into her hands and focused on breathing. It felt good to show up her detractors, but the leader's slimy gaze had hit her harder than she wanted to admit.

What was worse, she had to acknowledge that in another scenario, for another woman, he hadn't stopped at a sneer and some words. Even if… no, even _when,_ they took down this group, so much damage had already been done.

She just needed a minute to breath, and then she could go back to planning.

When she took this mission to get stronger, she'd only thought about the physical aspects. Not this. Was this what Team Ceartas dealt with day in, day out? How did they do it?

The door to the restroom creaked open, and firm footsteps stopped outside of Lucy's self-created cell.

"We can't give anyone their lives or innocence back," Ahosi started, "but the information you got today will help us track down victims and pull them out of the hell they've been put in. We can start them on the path to healing. And if it helps, he will spend the rest of his life in a dank little cell. He'll never get to hurt anyone ever again."

With those resonating words, she left.

Lucy took a few more deep breaths, then got up. There was work to be done.

* * *

Several hours later found her sitting at the hotel room desk, sealing up a letter. She stood and stretched before bending to put on her shoes. Lona sat up from where she'd been reading on her bed.

"You planning on walking that down to the port? Want some company?"

Lucy grinned at her roommate, "Yeah, why not?"

Lona hopped up, slipping on her own sandals, and the women exited the inn together and headed down the road. It was dusk, and Lucy breathed in the sea air as she admired the last colorful streaks in the sky.

They'd pounded out a strategy at the station and the team would be leaving in the morning for the mountains. Which meant that Lucy had to get down to the port tonight. She glanced over at Lona. There'd been something on her mind this evening and maybe the moon mage could help her.

"Hey," she started hesitantly, "I was just, I don't know, wondering…how do you guys do this all the time?"

Lona looked over, confused. "Do what?"

"How do you handle all the pain you see?" Lucy spoke in a rush. "How do you keep going in the face of some of the worst humanity has to dish out?"

The other mage didn't answer right away, meandering down the road, hands in pockets. She looked up at the moon, peeking out from behind some clouds. "I suppose we haven't really talked about how we formed our team, have we?" she murmured. "To know why we do what we do, you have to know where we come from."

She looked back at Lucy, holding her gaze. "It's not an easy story. Are you sure?"

Lucy nodded. "If I'm going to travel with you guys and carry out this mission with you, then yes. I do."

"Alright then. First of all, 'Ceartas' means 'justice.' When we named our team it was with the intent of bringing justice to as much of the world as we could. It drives us and informs most of the missions we take.

"We all come from different places and backgrounds, but we were brought together by a well organized and far reaching dark guild, like a smaller version of the UnderLords. They called themselves the Ghoul Eaters.

"I grew up on a little island out in the middle of nowhere in a tribe of moon worshippers. Mages are trained in the art of moon or magic. I've focused more on the offensive aspects of it now, but most people in my tribe were primarily healers or water mages. So when the Ghoul Eaters raided us, we didn't have enough warriors to win."

Lona's face was shadowed as they walked. There was a hitch in her voice. "They enslaved us, and killed who they couldn't subdue. I was just a novice teenager, I was thrown in the cages with everyone else. And when they'd looted the island they burned it.

"Then they took us to a their base and started making plans for an auction. I guess an entire island's worth of people with tons of mages meant they had to get special buyers set up," he sent Lucy a rueful smile."And that's how I met Rai.

"Ghoul Eaters had kidnapped her a few years before. She was still just a kid, but her magic was already strong. I guess the leader saw that power and wanted to use it. So he got her a 'teacher' and she spent the next few years being forced to develop it. That's part of why she's so adept at keeping her magic disciplined now 一she had to be, or she'd get punished. Dark guild style."

Lucy gasped. "That's horrible! How did they keep her there once she got so strong?"

Lona grimaced. "There are ways to keep a mage under your thumb. And once you've had someone for years, you condition them to fear you and do what you want. But she fought them just enough that they didn't trust her to go on any outside missions. So she was always kept to guard duty."

"So she was your guard when you were there?"

"Yeah, she was. And it was night and day when it was her shift. She would slip extra food to the kids and keep the other guards from hurting people. You could tell she had spirit, but it was halfway destroyed from everything they'd done.

"She got the night shift, and she and I ended up talking every night for the week or so we were there. I think I was probably her first friend in years. I know we were the first mages they'd ever let her guard. And she was proof to me that not everyone outside of my tribe was a monster.

"We gave each other hope. One night her master came down to the dungeon we were in with his asshole flunkies to inspect us. He didn't like how I looked, and he backhanded me."

Lona started laughing. "Rai. Fucking. Snapped. She slammed him with her magic, and used another ink whip to smash the chains holding our top offensive mage. Once his magic was back, he took down the flunkies and loosed the rest of the mages. And we laid a beat down on that guild that they'll never forget.

"Rai freed us and fought with us, and when the dust settled I found her sitting in a corner looking at the body of her old master and crying. She'd managed to live under a dark guild's thumb for years and never hurt anyone, and now she'd killed. She didn't know how to live on her own and hadn't been outside the compound in years, so we took her with us. She'd saved us, and then we got to save her.

"My tribe ended up resettling, but the experience left too much of a mark on me to continue that way of life. So Rai and I set out a couple years later to help fight guilds like Ghoul Eaters. We contracted directly with someone from the Magic Council."

"Wow," Lucy whispered. "But how did you meet Torin? Was it through a mission?"

"Actually, no. Kinda? A little. We were eating at this little hole in the wall restaurant once night. It was run by this really sweet older couple. I liked their food and Rai liked their cook."

Lucy grinned, "Was the cook Torin?"

Lona snapped a finger at her. "Bingo! But she was way too shy to ever talk to him! Girl could defeat an army but couldn't talk to a guy. What a goof. But anyway, we were both exhausted from a mission one night and stopped by. But when we got there, we saw these three guys through the front window with weapons. Like, serious weapons. They had the nice old couple on the ground and were threatening the rest of the staff.

"We knew we had to do something, even if we were drained. But… it was too fast. Before we could even open the door or go through a back window, the guy just… shot them. The couple.

"So at that point to hell with plans, we kicked in the door, ready to pound those guys into the fucking ground. But instead we had to save their lives."

"Save their lives? Wha 一 oh. From Torin."

"Yeah. We didn't even know he was a mage! He requipped everything he had, all red hot, and sent it all at those guys. They would've died mangled if it weren't for Rai. She caught all his weapons and then cocooned everyone in the shop before it could go any further."

Lucy's jaw dropped, "She… grabbed thirty missiles out of the air _and_ wrapped up a bunch of people, including mages?"

Lona laughed. "Remember her training? Trust me, you haven't seen any of what Rai can do yet."

"But anyway," Lona continued, "Rai wrapped everyone up while I called the Rune Knights. Torin was screaming and kept requipping shit that Rai had to grab; we had to get a sleep potion from the Knights.

"He woke up kind of disoriented after the guys were taken away and Rai was finally able to talk to him. She told him about her past a little and why she'd stopped him."

Lucy's heart melted. "And they fell in love?"

"Not right away. He was too angry at first. We didn't see him again for nearly six months, but one day he showed up at our door. He'd tracked us down thanks to Rai. We all started hanging out, they talked more, and he came with us on our next mission. That was a few years ago, and we've been a team ever since.

"The Magic Council member we worked under retired, and she recommended we join Fairy Tail. Said it would suit us. So we did, and it has. I think Master likes the connections we made in the council, too!"

"Do you ever feel like a third wheel?"

"Nah. They're careful about that. Sometimes the room by myself gets a little lonely, so it's been great having you here!"

They'd reached the port. Lucy led the way over to the post office, stepping inside.

"I'd like to post this to Magnolia, Fiore, please," she paid the worker and stepped back out, heart pounding. Part of her wanted to run back in and snatch the letter out of the man's hand. Deep breaths, Lucy.

She smiled at Lona. "Thank you for telling me everything. You guys have been through a lot, and I can see why you've dedicated yourself to this. It's a scary thing for me to jump into, but I'm glad I'm here. I want to help."

Lona slung an arm around her shoulders, "You are helping! It's ok to be scared, Lucy. Sometimes you have to just jump in."

Lucy nodded. She knew Lona was talking about the mission, but her desire to run back into the post office had faded. She would just jump in.

* * *

 _One week later_

Mira sorted through the stack of mail addressed to the guild hall, smiling a thanks to the postal worker. It was the usual stack of job requests, bills, complaints regarding their members' destructive rowdiness, a letter for Natsu… wait.

She yanked it out of the stack and scrutinized it. Natsu never got letters! And the writing… she recognized the elegant swirl. So Lucy was in Portico? Mira fervently hoped the mission was going well. She'd been planning on doing everything she could to keep Lucy in Natsu's mind while she was gone, but it was clear it wasn't needed. Anyone with eyes could see he missed her desperately. _Pining,_ even. Oh, she hoped she would get to see their reunion!

Now, to get Natsu his letter…she had to run into town for some errands and she wasn't sure she would see him…ah! She spotted her sister sitting in the corner. Lisanna would surely be able to deliver it. She and Natsu had been spending lots of time catching up.

Privately Mira was grateful. Lisanna seemed to be transitioning well, but she seemed more withdrawn than she had. If anyone could bring her out of her shell, it would be the boisterous dragon slayer. Mira had tried to draw Lisanna into her theories and schemes regarding her Natsu/Lucy pairing 一 before she, hm, _left_ , her sister had been her partner in all things matchmaking一 but Lisanna had brushed her off. Mira was sure she would warm up to it again, though. Maybe she just needed to be more subtle about how she brought it up.

Pasting on a grin, she approached her sister. "Morning, Lis! Will you be seeing Natsu today?"

Her baby sister blinked up at her. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I am. Why?"

"I have a letter I thought you could give him. It's from Lucy, all the way in Bosco!"

Mira was excited to see a spark of interest in Lisanna's eyes. "Isn't it wonderful that she wrote him from all the way in another country? It must have cost a fortune to post."

Handing the letter over, Mira lingered a moment. "Lis, why don't you and I get a job together today? I could put off my errands…"

But the youngest takeover mage was already standing. "Not today, Mira. Natsu and Happy and I are going fishing. Maybe later."

"Oh, sure. Well, have fun!"

Mira berated herself as she watched Lisanna leave. The last mission they'd taken together had gotten her sister thrown into another world! Of course she didn't want to go on another just yet. Shaking her head, she turned back to the pile of discarded mail and started sorting it.

* * *

Lisanna hurried out of the guild and toward the park. She sunk down to put her back against a tree trunk, hidden behind a screen of shrubbery. She studied the letter carefully.

That prissy handwriting looked like Lucy's alright. She felt a stab of guilt as she slipped a finger under the envelope flap, breaking the seal, but quickly buried it. She was just curious.

 _Natsu,_

 _I'm sorry I left the way I did, and I'm sorry it took so long to write. By the time you get this I'll be traveling again. I'm afraid I can't say too much in case this letter gets intercepted, but we saved a lot of lives today and are going to save more._

 _I'm already getting tons stronger from this training. I'm going to learn to requip my keys! And one of Team Ceartas is a chef mage, so I'm picking up a lot of cooking tips. I asked him to teach me some spicy recipes for you and fish ones for Happy. I'm doing a lot of hand to hand work, too. I know what you're going to say and no, I won't fight you yet. But maybe we could train together when I come back?_

 _I don't know when we'll be back in town, but hopefully soon. I miss everyone. And you. Mostly you, if I'm honest. This team is awesome and I'm proud of what we're doing, but it's not_ my _team._

 _Your partner always,_

 _Lucy_

Lisanna read and reread the letter several times. She carefully folded it and replaced it before sliding the envelope into her jacket. It seemed innocuous enough, the letter you'd send to a friend… a best friend.

" _I miss you most of all."_

" _Your partner always."_

Her fist clenched. It wasn't fair of Lucy to say those things when she'd left Natsu with no warning. To try to entice him back to her when she wasn't even here. Natsu was finally starting to seem his old self again. He barely even talked about the blonde!

This letter would only upset him. It was a good thing Mira had given it to her, so she could keep it from him. Keep him from getting hurt, like a real best friend would do.

Lisanna would never leave Natsu the way Lucy had done. And she would do everything to keep the celestial mage from hurting him once again. It was only right.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, everyone! A few footnotes, this week:**

 **First, as always, thank you to my wonderful beta Lady Lutka! She always makes time for me despite her hectic schedule and it has really made the story better!**

 **This week's NaLu author shoutout goes to QuiteaRiot! Her stories are well written and original, and I urge anyone who hasn't read it to give it a try. I'd also like to thank everyone who's sending me NaLu suggestions! I always like to read new stuff or revisit old stuff. I have a long list of authors to shout to; might have to double up if the story is shorter than anticipated. I'm not shouting out in any particular order; everyone on my list (and many off it I don't know about, I'm sure), is a great storyteller that deserves some love!**

 **A couple notes on the chapter:**

 **The Ahosi were an all female warrior regiment in Africa in the 19th century. They were major badasses, and I imagined that Bosco's Director of Trafficking would herself be a major badass.**

 **The US State Department estimates that 20-30 MILLION people are living in slavery today and hundreds of thousands are trafficked each year. 20% are children. Unfortunately there is no real Lucy and Team Ceartas, but there are good people fighting this every day! If anyone is interested and able, Charity Navigator lists and rates charities worldwide, many of which are dedicated to eradicating human trafficking.**

 **Hope you all enjoyed this next installment, and I will see you next week!**


	6. In the Mine

**Hi everyone! A pleasure to see you again!**

 **I had a great question in a review last week about where in the timeline this story takes place. This starts maybe a month after everyone returns from Edolas, which is why Lisanna is struggling so much with the transition. She's had just enough time to get over her glow of reunion and is running into the ugly reality of being caught in another world for two years. Lucy does have all her keys and isn't gifted with the Stardress; she will instead be learning it. I threw in a couple more active combat power moves because it sounded fun. I know that's not quite canon, but it does work better with the plot line and focus of this fic.**

 **Enjoy the chapter, everyone, and please drop me a line and let me know what you think!**

* * *

Lucy flopped down onto the ground with a moan. Sluggishly, she rolled over and stared at the sky, panting heavily. The stars were just starting to come out. She marked out Aquarius, smiling lightly. Then, grunting, she dragged herself up and stumbled over to the cooking fire where Torin was ladling a thick stew into bowls.

They'd spent two and a half weeks traveling to the mine, and the last few days had been mind numbingly exhausting. They'd been able to take a train for a bit, but once they hit the mountains their journey was continued by wagon, and then eventually by foot.

 _It hasn't helped,_ Lucy thought, _that we've had to move faster than the caravan we took out. The sooner we get there the more time we have until they realize something is wrong._

They'd been able to stay on the roads, at least, until a few days ago. The mine lay two days by wagon from the nearest village, and when they'd reached the turnoff leading to the UnderLords' hideaway they'd deemed it too dangerous to stay on the path. So, using Gemini's maps and Pyxis, they'd struggled through treacherous woods.

Despite the need for speed, Lucy's training had continued. She'd worked on meditating with Rai and requipping with Torin while on the wagon, and each night after they had set up camp she continued to hone her combat skills, both magically and physically.

She could finally requip, although her speed was still improving. It was thrilling to know Aquarius would never drown her for dropping her key again. The meditation had sharpened her awareness of her magic and begun to expand it as she practiced drawing in power.

The Stardress was still, maddeningly, just out of reach. But Lucy could now draw on raw power, forming little globes of celestial light in her hands and shooting them forward in a mini version of Urano Metria. She'd reminded herself painfully of Natsu when she'd missed a target the other day and set a tree on fire.

Of course she hadn't received a reply to her letter, and she'd agonized over it for days. Did he read it, or did he throw it out without even looking at it? Was he angry? Did he understand?

She'd dithered over sending another one, and finally broke down and posted one at the last town before the mountains. It was probably at Fairy Tail by now. Did he read it, or did he throw it out? Was he angry?... for the thousandth time she cycled through her worried thoughts.

Lucy slurped down the last of her stew, ladylike manners forgotten. She'd peed in the woods, for Spirit King's sake. There was no going back now. Besides, she was starving. The Celestial mage deliberately ignored the pang of longing as she was forcefully reminded of Natsu's eating habits.

Oh, man, she had it bad. How insane was it to miss his monstrous manners? She had got to get her head in the game!

Bidding the team goodnight, she crawled into her sleeping back and stared up at the stars. For practice, she requipped each key into her hand, one at a time, finding their constellation and wishing them goodnight. They warmed in response, and she was able to slip into unconsciousness.

* * *

They woke up and broke camp in the predawn light. Lucy could feel the tension in the air. By tonight they should have reached the mine. But before that, another few hours of hiking apparently followed by a ravine they would have to cross unseen.

Breakfast was a couple granola bars while they marched, and lunch was a hunk of cheese and a large piece of bread, also while on the move. Lucy estimated they were nearing mid afternoon when they broke through the trees to be confronted with what she could only describe as an abyss.

Fifty feet across and however many hundreds of feet down, the chasm gaped before her, running into the distance in either direction. Worse, the tree line ended twenty feet before the drop off on either side, leaving her feeling exposed in these hostile woods.

 _How the hell were they going to cross that?_

Torin stepped up to the edge, considering the terrain. "Well, that is a long way down. Too far to jump, even with anti-gravity. The only bridge we know of is the one guarded by the UnderLords, huh?"

Lucy nodded, "That's what Gemini thought, anyway. And these guys really don't like people sneaking up on them, so they probably wouldn't tolerate another bridge."

Rai sighed, "Dammit. This always drains me."

Lucy looked at her, confused, as Rai started stomping up a hill near the edge. The other two followed her, so Lucy trailed along, too. Why were they going up a hill? Was Rai going to jump? Use her magic to make really, really long stilts?

When they reached the top of the little rise she took a moment to appreciate the view. All around her were mountains, covered in pine trees except for their peaks, snow capped even in the late spring. The chasm stretched away, a jagged wound. She couldn't see the bridge from here, but knew it was about a mile to the north. They'd played it safe by coming this far south and would pay for it with the extra hiking.

Lost in her thoughts, she was drawn back to the present by the purple glow that was Lona practicing her magic. The lunar mage had pulled out her moonstones and was holding them one at a time to her heart. She glowed lightly before the stone began to pulse with it's own radiance. Good thing they weren't doing this at night.

Lona attached the stones to all of their packs and then tied them to each members' wrist. While she did so, Rai sat cross legged, meditating. As she did so, delicate tattoos slowly inked their way across her skin, curling themselves all the way up her neck and around the outside her face, outlining her features. When she opened her eyes, the ink had seeped in, making them pools of darkness.

Lona caught Lucy's slack jawed expression. She nudged her gently, "Relax, Lucy. This is her version of my glow. It's how her power expresses itself when she gets really serious," Lona winked at her, "Once we fully realize your stardresses you're gonna look like a crazy badass, too."

Oh, man. Now she'd really be focusing on that. She was so close, too!

Rai stepped up to the very top of the ridge. She took a deep breath and _pushed,_ hunching forward into an awkward ball. But her strange position went uncommented on because wings, huge, delicate bird's wings formed from ink, were bursting from her back.

Lucy stepped forward and lightly ran a finger down one. The wings were insanely detailed, each feather individually defined. No wonder she was sweating. Damn, Lucy hoped one of her stardresses had wings, because that was cool as fuck.

Rai strapped on all the bags with the antigravity moonstones, then tucked her wings into her body and started sprinting down the hill. When she reached the edge she jumped, and the wings snapped out on either side and allowed her to coast safely to the other side. She dumped the bags and repeated the process to glide back.

Torin was waiting with some rope. He bound Rai to his back and took off down the hill. When he jumped, the wings came out, and they just barely made it over. Lucy gulped.

"Sooo, uhhh, do I have to run her down the hill? Because I mean I know we've been working out and all but like..."

Lona dissolved into giggles as Rai came back, definitely sweating now.

"You're good. With the moonstones she can carry you. A six foot tall man is asking a bit much, though."

 _Thank goodness,_ Lucy thought. Rai directed the blonde to monkey hug her, and Lona carefully strapped them together. Lucy wasn't afraid to admit she squeaked and tightened her grip to strangulation level as Rai started running. She saw Lona waving and laughing as they went down the hill, and then they were launching themselves over the edge and she saw only sky. She carefully peeked over to her left and watched Rai's wing carefully lift and tilt, the feathers working to land them safely on the other side.

It was over in a moment, Rai stumbling to a landing. A few seconds passed.

"Um, Lucy? You can let go now. I still have to get Lona."

"Oh! Right, yeah, totally," Lucy unlocked her legs stiffly from around Rai and plopped onto the ground. She was so, so glad she hadn't been facing the ground when they jumped.

She sat and pondered death by ravine for a few minutes before Lona and Rai all but crash landed on top of her. They were forced to stop for a few hours to let Rai recover, and Lucy took the time to call out Loke.

He appeared in a whirlwind of golden light, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. "My princess," he purred, "this is not where I had anticipated our first coupling, but I am here to fulfill your desires."

Lucy snatched her hand back, cheeks burning. "God, Loke, I have got to call you out in clubs more often. Clearly you have some energy to work off. We're here to work on my stardress, _nothing_ else!"

He pouted, but straightened his glasses. "Alright, alright," he sighed, "we'll carry on. You've already been able to hold my stardress for a few seconds; I assume since you've called me you want to work on holding one for longer before moving onto the others?"

"Yes. Although, I have to ask…" Lucy beamed up at Loke, "will any of my stardresses have wings?!"

The lion thought about it, frowning, "Ah, maybe? It's been awhile since I've seen a lot of them. I don't think the Zodiacs do, but some of the silver keys out there might."

That was good enough for Lucy. She set Loke's key on her chest, ignoring her spirit's pervy look, and focused her magic. Gold swirled around her as the spell settled over her form. Lucy grinned fiercely. This transformation was a lot faster than the last one.

She glanced down at herself. She was wearing a lot black dress with a slit up the side. Her hair was in an elegant updo, contrasting with the messy pigtails she'd thrown it in this morning. A gold sash wrapped around her hips, and her feet were outfitted in entirely impractical flats which somehow didn't hinder her at all.

Lucy took a moment to feel out the spell. It was holding steady. She lit up a fist in a much stronger version of the light balls she'd been practicing with and gestured to Loke.

"Let's fight!"

* * *

Two hours later she made her way back to camp, tired but satisfied. She'd only had to recast twice, holding the spell much longer than usual during a spar. She was still a long way from beating Loke, but she had definitely improved.

She got to camp in time for Torin to hand her more stew, which she slurped down, before they broke their makeshift camp and turned their faces north.

By the time the sun was starting to touch the tips of the peaks, they were creeping around the remains of an avalanche to peer down at a tall timber wall with several long, low buildings inside.

They'd chosen their position well had spent the better part of an hour picking their way over the terrain unseen. Lucy especially had insisted on caution, her new scar reminding her of traps laid by enemies.

Peering through their binoculars, they could make out individuals hauling carts of dirty rocks to stack them in larger carts. Then the slaves were herded into the poorer built of the buildings. The overseers not guarding that building went to another barrack-like structure. There was also a shelter for what looked like oxen, and one larger cabin that managed to put on airs despite its surroundings. Lucy was sure the mine leader lived there. It reeked of self-imposed eminence. But despite their observations, not much else could be gleaned from the view.

"Hmmmm," Rai murmured, "I don't like this. We can't see the entrance to the mine shaft because of the wall, and it's also going to prevent us from seeing most of the activity there. From this vantage point we've mostly got the tops of buildings and some of the main area. What if there's a whole weapons stockpile or something?"

"Yeah, this is pretty bad. Especially since we still don't know what they're mining or how deep the shaft goes," Torin rumbled, "It'll take twice as long to scope the place out and a lot more sneaking around and climbing trees."

"We don't have time for that," Lucy added, "they're expecting the next caravan tomorrow. They'll be suspicious if it's late by even a day. Plus with all that maneuvering we're more likely to have to take out a guard."

"What if we did get a guard? Could use Gemini again," Lona suggested.

Lucy shook her head, "We could, but would we be able to plan and implement an attack before they realize he's missing? I can't send Gemini in as the guard while we prepare, and from what little I can see they work in pairs."

Rai huffed, "Even in the middle of nowhere these assholes are more careful and prepared than the damn army. Guess that just leaves the shit alternative, then."

Everyone looked at her. She tucked her binoculars in her bag and started smearing dirt on her cheeks, "Infiltrate, guys. We're gonna infiltrate."

"Aw, geez," Torin groaned, "That's a terrible idea….but I don't have a better one. Gotta hide that we're mages, though."

"From what we learned in Portico, they don't send mages here," Lucy said thoughtfully, "Could have them on staff, though. We'll have to surprise them."

Lona was busy hiding their packs under a rock, "Ok. Let's get in there, take tomorrow to gather information, and tomorrow night we'll take 'em all out. Nice and simple."

Now in agreement, they settled in and waited for night to fall.

* * *

Lucy looked up at the wall towering over her. It hadn't seemed quite so tall from up on the mountain. Nor had the spikes the wood was sharpened into looked so menacing. But she supposed they wouldn't be climbing over anyway.

"Virgo!" she whispered, requipping the proper key into her hand with pride. Wow, was this handy. Virgo appeared in a whirl, and with a bow to the rest of Team Ceartas started drilling a hole. One by one they dropped into the tunnel, crawling along and emerging through the other side. Virgo carefully refilled her work and vanished as the group crept along the wall, sticking to the shadows.

The compound was quiet, although Lucy could still see two pairs of guards at the gate and several more stationed around the slave quarters. That could make getting in difficult…at least, she thought so until Lona slipped up behind the closest pair, tapping them both on the shoulders.

The guards whipped around, weapons coming up, only to halt as Lona passed her hands across their faces. They both looked vacant and slightly confused, staring off in different directions. As the team snuck by them into the barracks, Lucy giggled as a line from a book flitted across her mind. " _These aren't the wizards you're looking for,"_ she whispered to herself.

All levity stopped, however, once she got in the door.

The smell hit her first, an overpowering stench of overcrowded, unwashed humanity. Then the noise. It was a large building and the rustling and whispers suggested that it was packed. It was hot, too. Lucy supposed the captors here weren't too keen on proper ventilation.

At first it had seemed pitch black, but as she stood for a few minutes her eyes were slowly beginning to adjust to a minute amount of light provided by some sort of glowing fungus. Gross. Handy, but gross.

She could see outlines of people, slumped over on the ground, sleeping wherever they could. Lucy felt a white hot stab of rage run through her. How could people be kept like this? She wanted pull on her Stardress, run outside, and start smashing everything in the compound. She had never wished for Natsu and his destructive powers so much. This entire mountainside could burn.

She closed her eyes and settled into her meditation breathing exercises. The whole point of being here was to make a plan so they _could_ demolish the mine. Focus, Lucy. She felt rather than saw her team creep away to find places to huddle on the floor. She picked her way over to a wall and hunched down. Her hand touched the floor and she fought a squeal. It was slick with gods-knew-what.

She closed her eyes and tried to return to her breathing exercises, but it was a long time before she slept.

* * *

The doors slamming open and a wash of light woke Lucy abruptly. She flailed a moment, getting her bearings, and looked around wildly. The overseers were kicking at the people nearest the door, shouting at everyone to get up.

She rose, warily. Around her, the rest of the slaves were dressed in rags that thankfully didn't all match. Lucy didn't know where she would've gotten a uniform. She was glad she'd gone through the tunnel last night, because everyone was dirty.

Lucy ducked her head and tried to think unobtrusive thoughts as she followed the girl next to her past the overseers. They didn't seem to realize she was new, and since there were no shouts or explosions she thought the rest of the team must have slipped by as well.

There were nearly 300 slaves, she estimated as they were shuffled out into the main square. A bowl with some brownish glop was thrust into her hands, along with a cup of brackish water. Lucy wrinkled her nose but sat quietly along the side of the square as she forced it down. Now that she was inside and it was light out, she took her time casually looking around.

It was definitely oxen in the shelter; she imagined they were needed to pull the carts of ore. There were a few smaller one-room structures they hadn't been able to see from above: the cookhouse and another, from which men were emerging with shackles and picks. There were a lot more slaves than guards, and for a second Lucy entertained the idea of a revolt. But every guard held a cattle prod like she'd seen in Portico, and the slaves had clearly seen enough of their use to sit quietly, cowed by fear.

The people around her ate fast and she copied them, knowing they probably weren't allotted much time. As one man started banging on a tin drum, ordering everyone up, she took her last bite and placed her bowl into a bin with the others and got into a new line.

Everyone paired up and Lucy found herself next to a tall, thin woman with sunken eyes. She couldn't tell her skin or hair color: everything was covered in a layer of caked on dust. The slavers moved quickly, chaining each pair together by the feet. Only after they'd been secured were they both given picks and led to the mine shaft.

They were shoved in the elevator in groups of twenty and winched down slowly. Lucy tried to fight her sudden claustrophobia.

At the bottom, a horizontal tunnel stretched into the distance with several smaller tunnels carved out on both sides. Lucy's 'team' was walked to one at the farthest end. The lighting was from irregularly spaced light lacrimas, leaving some sections in shadows. Lucy's partner lifted her pick and swung it into the wall, chipping off a small piece that she kicked behind her. Then she repeated the process. Again, and again, and again.

Lucy's arms were murdering her after about twenty minutes, but she carried on gamely as a warden strode by. She was just congratulating herself on keeping up appearances when her partner turned to her.

"You're insane if you think you can get us out."

Lucy dropped her pick. Scrambling to pick it up, she sputtered, "I, um, I don't know what you mean. I've been here since-"

"Since last night. You and your friends. The guards might not know or care who most of us are, but we're not idiots. You get to know people fast, living like this."

The woman had not stopped digging while they'd been talking, and Lucy hurriedly followed suit as another guard went by.

"How do you know I'm here to get you out?"

"Why else would you come here and pretend you're one of us? It won't work, you know. Now that you're here, they'll keep you. There's no way out," the woman sagged slightly, defeat in every line of her body, "If you try, they kill you. Although people don't last long in here anyway. Ah, at least we've got some crystal today. If we don't make the quota we won't eat tonight."

Lucy looked to where she was pointing. Sure enough, there was a faint glimmer peeking through the rock. Lucy frowned as they chiseled away at it. This didn't look like any jewel. She cleared her throat of grime, "What is it?"

The woman knocked the chunk from the wall, placing it in a bucket at their feet, "Rough lacrima, I think. One of the guys here used to work with it. He said this kind stores power better than any other. Figure they're making weapons or something."

Two men shuffled down the hall, swinging their bucket noisily. Lucy's partner turned to the wall, shielding their vein of lacrima. She carefully pushed the bucket further into the shadows. Her attempts were for naught as one of the men grabbed her roughly by the arm. The other herded Lucy back against the rough stone.

"Hey, there, Anise. You wouldn't happen to know where we could get some crystal, do yah? We'd hate to not meet our quota," the man leered, pushing his pick up against the woman's neck.

She trembled, "Please, Nyles, I need to eat tonight. Don't-" she was cut off as the pick pressed cruelly into her skin.

"But you can always get some more, can't you? Me and Karl here are big guys, we need our calories. You two," his eyes fell on Lucy. He frowned, "who the hell are you?"

Anise spoke hurriedly, "Don't you remember Mia? She came in with me."

Nyles stared at Lucy hard for a moment before turning back to Anise, "Maybe. I'll take that lacrima, now." Karl let go of Lucy to reach down for their bucket. Lucy, incensed, moved to knee him in the face, only to be stopped by a light touch on her wrist. Anise had reached over from where Nyles still held her against the wall. Her hand on Lucy was a warning. Lucy forced herself to relax back against the rock as she glared back at Nyles.

He smiled at her his Karl straightened up with their hard earned lacrima, "A pleasure, ladies." The partners turned and continued down the hall, rattling their bucket as they hunted for new victims. Lucy thought she saw Nyles glance back at her as they went. It sent chills down her spine; that guy was seriously a creep.

She turned to Anise, "Are you alright? I can't believe those guys! Who does that?"

Anise rubbed her throat, "Be careful around them. They're in with the guards. If you stand up to them they'll get you beaten. If they don't do it themselves, anyway." She turned tiredly back to the wall and raised her pick again, "Come on. I think we can get enough to eat tonight with this vein."

Lucy followed her lead, but inside she was fuming. She couldn't wait for tonight.

* * *

When they came up out of the mine shaft Lucy thought she was going to die. Her arms were on fire, she was choking on dust, and her stomach was wrapped around her spine. She hoped Torin could requip some sandwiches or something before they made their move tonight, because she was going to need the energy.

Everyone turned in their picks and buckets. Their lacrima were inspected by a heavyset guard. He carefully picked through Lucy and Anise's shards of crystal. Lucy held her breath. Would it be enough for dinner?

The man looked up after what felt like an eternity and shoved the bucket back at them. "Go put it in the cart," he grunted. She heard Anise let out a sigh of relief. They emptied the bucket and were unshackled by a guard before collecting their bowls. Lucy saw a few unlucky souls set directly back to the large shack, looking longingly at the food. She gripped her bowl a little more tightly, and made her way over to Rai, Torin, and Lona. She sat down, wincing as her muscles screamed at her, and put the first bite of tasteless gruel into her mouth.

A shadow fell over her, and as she lifted her head her vision went white as pain washed over her senses. She blinked rapidly, clearing her vision enough to see that the world had turned sideways. She made out Torin, laying on the ground, and as she tried to reach out to him, confused and hurt, a guard clamped heavy manacles on her hands and feet. She was lifted and dragged, head lolling, barely able to make out her teammates in the same position.

Desperately she tried to requip Loke's key, but found her magic muted and unresponsive. Oh, god. Ohgodohgodohgodohgod….the last thing she saw before she succumbed to the blackness at the edge of her vision was Nyles' smirk as he picked up her food to eat.

* * *

Natsu blew out a breath and threw back his shot of firewhiskey. Almost a month, and not a trace of Lucy. He honestly didn't know what he'd done with himself before she came along. Mira had kept the action heavy missions coming his way, but it wasn't enough. He was sick of lying awake at night, pretending his fallen star was her, just out of sight. He was sick of imposing on Happy and Lisanna all the time; they were great, but he knew he was trying to fill an impossible void with their friendship. He'd stopped talking about her to his friends, the emotions her name brought up made it impossible to maintain the image of the happy-go-lucky dragonslayer everyone expected him to be.

He was angry. At himself, at Lucy. She could've at least fucking written him. The master had taken pity on him and let him know whenever the team checked in via lacrima, even if he wouldn't tell Natsu where they were. The last time had been three days ago.

He was angry at himself for the sick pit of worry he got when he thought of her in danger, and the longing he felt at night when he lay alone in his hammock. For all intents and purposes she'd deserted him, and all he could do was sit at home hoping she was ok. He swallowed back another shot and almost coughed it back up as Gray slammed an ice cannonball into him.

"YOU WANNA GO, STRIPPER?" he roared, secretly relieved at having something to take his mind off Lucy, if even for a moment. He saw Erza watching, but for once she let them, let him, have this fight.

* * *

Lisanna leaned against the wall, sliding down it to sit on the floor. Carefully, she opened Lucy's latest letter. She'd convinced Mira that Natsu didn't want to talk about the letters because he missed Lucy so much, but she knew that wasn't true. He didn't even talk about her anymore! He didn't want to hear from that bitch.

She supposed she could've just thrown the letters out, but she had to know. What was Lucy writing him? She untucked the first letter from it's spot in her jacket and set it next to this new one.

 _Dear Natsu,_

 _Hope you're doing well, and not making Master cry from property damage expenses. I'm getting so much stronger-I can requip my keys now, and I've able to pull out my first stardress! Only for a couple minutes at a time, but it's really improving. I might have to fight you when I get home._

 _We're going on a pretty dangerous part of the mission. I wish you were here with us. Even though you go overboard and it would've taken forever to walk across the country, you always make me feel safer when we go into a bad situation._

 _I guess I don't really have the right to say that, since I left you behind. But I do miss you, and hopefully we'll be back soon and you and I can talk. About everything._

 _Say hello to Happy and everyone else for me,_

 _Lucy._

Lisanna's eyes narrowed as she reread the letter. Ridiculous. Anyone could see she was just leading Natsu on. She'd always known Lucy was a hussy.

If this was what she put in a letter, what would she do in person? Ugh, Lisanna didn't even want to think about it. Unfortunately, it was becoming all she could think about. _About everything,_ Lucy had written. What was everything?

She read both letters once more, then hid them back in her jacket. As she emerged into the main room again, she found Natsu struggling on the floor with Gray, both clearly worn out. She went to him as he lay on the ground, panting.

His eyes met hers and he smiled lightly, "Hey, Lis. I think I'm gonna head out. Think I tired out the popsicle over there."

She ignored Gray's retaliatory insult and pulled him to his feet, marvelling at his warmth.

"Do you want me to walk you home? I wouldn't mind," she smiled at him, leaning in.

He ran a hand through his hair, adorably bashful. Was he nervous? "No, no, that's alright. I'd hate to put you out," he said, "Have a good night, Lis."

She watched through the window as he walked down the street before giddily turning back to the bar and ordering a celebratory milkshake. She, Lisanna Strauss, takeover mage stuck between worlds, made Natsu Dragneel nervous. That had to mean something good, right?

She was too busy watching Mira whip up her shake to see that Natsu hadn't turned toward his place, but was instead walking in the direction of Strawberry Street, turning over his fallen star in his hands.

* * *

 **And it's a wrap! What's gonna happen to Lucy and co. at the mine? Can Natsu keep his feelings at bay by fighting everything that moves, or will he lose it completely? What the fuck, Lisanna?**

 **Author shoutout this week goes tooooo (drumroll, please): Satyrykal! If you want some insane sexual tension, look no further than the recently updated 'Boiling Point.' I have to fan my flushed cheeks just thinking about it!**

 **As always, huge thank you to my wonderful beta, Lady Lutka.**

 **See you all next week!**


	7. Duality

**Hi guys! Sorry this is late, this chapter gave me a lot of issues and took me a little longer to write. Huge thanks to my beta, Lady Lutka, for her suggestions and help.**

 **Content Note: Mentions of death, suicide, torture. We get kinda heavy. But then we'll lighten up a little! Hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

Lucy woke up slowly, the world coming into focus at an agonizing pace. Her head was pounding. Why was her head pounding? And what was around her wrists and ankles? They made her limbs feel so heavy…

Blinking, she narrowed her eyes as everything came rushing back. The mine. The hit on the head as the team was ambushed. That rat bastard Nyles, smiling as he indulged in her food. He'd been the one to report them, she was sure of it. He'd been all over the mine, tormenting people. If anyone was going to notice four new people in the crowd and then report it to the hated guards, it would be him. She'd make him pay. If she could get out of these chains.

They were thick, made out of a heavy metal with a bluish cast.. wait. She knew this metal. But there were no mages at the mines! They hadn't expected the enemy to have magic-nullifiers. Especially since none of the team had revealed their powers.

Lucy blearily lifted her head to meet the gaze of what had to be the mine foreman. He wore a wide, unpleasant smile, and she had the sinking feeling that they had underestimated their enemy.

* * *

Natsu woke up pleasantly, or as much as one can while sleeping in a hammock. Glancing around for Happy, he remembered that his feline companion had planned to spend the day with Wendy and Carla. Mentally wishing his buddy luck with his latest attempt to gift Carla fish, he jumped down to the floor and swiped the job request he'd grabbed from Mira last night.

 _Dark Guild in Need of Vanquishing!_ read the title. Even without the large sum posted on the bottom, Natsu was happy to oblige. It had been a couple days since his last mission, and he was itching to fight again. He hadn't quite healed up yet, but it didn't matter. What mattered was the restless feeling driving him forward, as it had for the past month Lucy had been gone.

Throwing on clothes and grabbing six apples and twelve muffins for the road (Lisanna had dropped them off yesterday, and he wasn't sure what he'd done to earn free food but he wouldn't be wasting it), he set off down the path. The dark guild had set up shop only two towns over, so he figured he'd be back by lunch. He only hoped it would tire him out a little bit so he could sleep tonight.

* * *

The foreman leered down at them, sauntering across the room slowly. It was a large space, turned claustrophobic with what seemed like every guard in the compound crowded into it. Lucy shared a desperate glance with Lona. The other mage looked to be straining, red faced and sweaty, and for a moment Lucy saw a glimmer of purple in her eyes before it was snuffed out.

Lucy could empathize. She'd been trying to requip a key or gather celestial light since she woke up. She could practically taste her magic, it was _so_ close, but a wall lay between her and her power. It was frustrating and terrifying in equal measure.

The foreman had reached them. He was a large man, nearly six feet tall and heavy-set. His eyes sagged slightly and his mouth had a boyish pout to it when it wasn't twisted into a sneer. Lucy could tell immediately he liked to overindulge in the finer things in life despite his surroundings. The ostentatious house matched his embroidered overcoat, and his perfume was chokingly heady. _New money_ , her father would have called it.

The man leaned down, hooking a finger under Lucy's chin and tilting her face up. Repulsed, she tried to pull away, only to be held firmly in place by a pair of guards. The man smiled, too wide, and his voice managed to be both slimy and rasping.

"So these are the mages hunting our illustrious leader. I'm sorry to break the news, but the search ends here."

* * *

Natsu stared through the bushes at the dark guild's hall, his scarf wrapped around his face. These fuckers would never know what hit them! The poster had estimated the guild at a puny ten members, so he wasn't too worried.

He hadn't seen anyone come in or out for the past half hour, and that was as long as he was willing to wait. Readjusting his scarf, he left his pack in the bushes and strolled up to the door with deliberate nonchalance. It opened with a satisfying boom as he kicked it in, fists blazing and ready to go.

"PREPARE TO MEET YOUR MAKER, SCUM OF THE EARTH!" he roared. "I'M NATSU DRAGNEEL OF FAIRY TAIL AND I'M ALL FIRED UP!" He was already halfway into the main room, fire surging around him, before he realized that no one was sitting there.

Spinning around, he watched the door close and a man with long dark hair and a blackened smile step forward. Behind him were at least twoscore guild members.

"Welcome, Natsu of Fairy Tail. We'll be glad to meet your challenge."

As they came at him, Natsu realized that he might not make it home in time for lunch.

* * *

Oh.

Oh shit.

This guy knew they were hunting Domme Malleolus, leader of the Underlords? This was bad. It meant the Underlords knew that the team was onto their trail and had anticipated their arrival. Hell, Nyles might have been told to keep an eye out for any interlopers.

It meant that this outpost had been prepared to capture and hold four strong mages. Add in the fact that they hadn't been killed outright… that didn't bode well either. Lucy swallowed hard. The foreman saw the realization in her eyes and his smile widened, almost grotesquely. He dropped her chin.

"I'm sure we can reach an amicable conclusion here. We'd hate for things to get _messy,_ you understand," he simpered, wiping the dirt of Lucy's chin off onto an embroidered handkerchief. She gritted her teeth, sensing a similar repulsion from the rest of the team.

Well, maybe she could buy them some time, at least. Lucy might not be the strongest mage or the most tactical thinker, and she still didn't have a good enough grasp of all the ins and outs of her teammates' abilities to work out the best way to utilize their strengths to get out of this. But if she'd learned one thing from her father, it was how to negotiate.

And she'd use the once unappreciated skill to buy them some time.

She looked the man in the eye. "Perhaps we can come to an agreement. Contrary to appearance, we don't like mess either."

It was the right card to play, as he broke into another froglike smile. "My dear, it's simple. Tell me what you've uncovered about the Lord's plans and we won't need to...shall we say, _persuade_ you."

Lucy pretended to think about it. "And what happens once you know everything? Killing us seems awfully wasteful."

He nodded. "We do hate to waste. You'll continue to work in the mine until we send the last load of lacrima next week. You can go with to meet the Master in person. I'm sure he would love to speak with you himself."

Lucy lifted her nose haughtily. "Hah! Do you think you can contain us that long?"

"I think we can hold you for a few weeks, whatever your strength. Clearly it hasn't paid to underestimate us," his face hardened, "now, what do you know about the Ascension?"

That threw Lucy for a loop. The Ascension? Fucking what? Well, no reason to stop bluffing now. "I think you can safely assume we know everything. We didn't come here by chance, after all."

"And how, pray tell, have you come by this information?"

Time for her big gamble. Hopefully Lona, Rai, or Torin had something they could use to get them out of this, because Lucy was pretty much out of options. Despite kneeling on the ground, she did her best to look down at her overdressed opponent. "I'm afraid I cannot reveal the name of our source," she said loftily. "I will not put them in danger after they've done so much to undermine you."

Another, darker smile split the foreman's face. This one didn't remind her of a frog. It was more reptilian. There was a cold, uncaring predator in those eyes. He pulled out a daintily jeweled dagger, and Lucy knew that the time for stuffy manners was over. She'd bought all the time she could.

* * *

Natsu punched one mage in the face, sending him flying through a window. He spun, letting his magic flare out from his body and pushing the enemy back, buying him a few moments to use his wing attack on a woman trying to use her water magic against his flames.

He spared a glance for the leader. The guy was just sitting on a table at the end of the hall, watching his people attack Natsu. And honestly, he might actually be home for lunch if these pansies were anything to go by. So why was the guy just _sitting_ there?

Forty minutes later Natsu was drop kicking the last man into the rafters, and the leader finally stood. He sauntered over to Natsu, who dropped into a fighting stance, panting. Ok, so they might not have been the strongest, but fighting that many mages while still a little beat up from the last mission was no easy feat.

Still, he could take this guy. But something about his relaxed posture, and the way he walked with his hands in his pockets, was setting him on edge. The man stopped twenty feet away and smiled at Natsu. From this close, he could see that his teeth were rotted. The Slayer's sensitive nose picked up his putrid breath, and he did his best not to gag. The leader's words, however, froze him to his core, and he forgot all about the smell.

"Welcome, Dragonslayer. You will make a strong addition to my cohort. Now, give me your mind."

He gestured abruptly and Natsu found himself on the ground, screaming, as images and sounds slammed into him with the force of a tidal wave.

* * *

Lucy screwed up her courage. She was a Fairy Tail mage, and she wouldn't let these bastards break her! Although try as she might, she couldn't stop herself from trembling as the leader stepped toward her.

Then one of the guards nearest the door cocked his head. "What's that? You guys hear that?"

And all hell broke loose.

* * *

Images roared past him, flashing in front of his eyes for barely a moment before being replaced with another. He hardly recognized them as his own memories. The noise accompanying was too much for his sensitive ears to sort out, and blurred into one meaningless roar.

The onslaught continued, and just as he thought he would go mad, it stopped. The silence was deafening. As his eyes refocused, he saw the black-toothed mage leaning casually against a table.

"Trained by a dragon, hmm? And then taken in by the most powerful guild in Fiore. No wonder your strength is such," he caught Natsu's look of pained surprise. "Oh yes. I see it all. What is agony to you is near elation to me! So, Slayer," he crouched to come eye level with Natsu, "submit your will to me, or you will be in pain for quite a while."

Natsu ground out two words;"Fuck you," and had the pleasure of seeing the other man's smile vanish before his memories assaulted him once more.

* * *

The too large, ornately carved double doors slammed open and nearly off their hinges by the tide of furious bodies piling into the room. Lucy couldn't believe what she was seeing. The slaves screamed obscenities and swung pickaxes. She saw one with a cattle prod shock a guard into unconsciousness.

Before the guards could get over their initial shock, the uprising had swept through to the captive mages. Hands grabbed at them, yanking them back through the doors and into the courtyard as the fighting began in earnest. The courtyard was in chaos. Clearly the slaves had overwhelmed the few guards that were left when the team had been taken inside and then broken into the shed where the picks were kept. Lucy turned her face away at the sight of several bodies laying amongst the rubble.

The four were hauled over to a large rock at the side of the yard. A burly man directed Rai to stretch her manacles out on the rock and advised her to keep steady. He swung his pick high and brought it down on the side of her manacle next to her hand, shattering it, then doing the same with the other wrist. Rai stumbled away, white as a ghost, and Lucy made sure to close her eyes when it was her turn, sending up a quick prayer to the Spirit King that he didn't miss.

She lifted her head to the man as the last chain shattered. "Thank you, thank you all so much… but why did you help us?" she asked, a little breathlessly.

He looked down at her, face hard. "You're the only chance we have. We saved you, now fight for us and put these monsters down before they slaughter us all," he growled. He swung the pick back up on his shoulder and started across the yard to the house.

Lucy started toward the doors, too. She requipped Loke's key into her hand, but instead of calling the lion she placed it on her chest. She called on her power and between one step and the next, the spell settled around her. It was more solid and powerful than ever; maybe the piece she'd been missing was adrenaline.

She felt rather than saw her team similarly power up around her, and this time when they entered the main room it was not as captives but as conquerors.

Lucy blasted two guards into the wall. A slave rushed over and grabbed their cattle prods before diving back into the fray. Lucy turned in time to jerk out of the way of a prod coming at her stomach. She punched the man wielding it in the face, following it up with a Leo-powered Lucy Kick. She didn't see where he landed, because she was too busy nailing more guards with her light blasts.

Although the mages were turning the tide, the fighting was horrific. Despite Fairy Tail's philosophy of _never kill_ , it seemed that they were the only ones honouring that policy. The guards had no such compunctions, and the slaves were driven by a vicious rage and fear after their treatment at the hands of their captors. Anyone who fell to the ground ran the risk of being crushed in the melee. The only way to save as many lives as they could was to end this, and quickly.

A roar echoed above the din. Every head in the room whipped around. The source was the froglike leader. He was holding a fist sized lacrima orb in one hand, held to his mouth. He inhaled sharply and Lucy thought she saw a haze flow into his mouth from the orb. He threw his head back and let out another roar. Then his fists burst into a sickly green flame, and he sent a jet of it at the nearest slave. With a shock, Lucy recognized Anise.

Anise screamed, throwing her arms up over her face. Time seemed to slow as the flames shot toward her, and Lucy knew she could never get there in time.

But Torin was closer. He jumped in front of her and tackled her down to the floor, covering her with his body. The flames roared around and past them, and Lucy felt weak in the knees as Torin stumbled back upright, a little singed but both of them alright. That's right. His magic made him resistant to heat and burns.

Lona and Rai both cleared a path to Torin in seconds, and all three of them turned a furious focus on the man. Faced with the three of them and Anise, who was double wielding cattle prods, he did exactly what Lucy had expected, and why she hadn't moved from her spot.

He ran.

He sent a blast of flame through the wall and didn't hesitate to jump through. In his haste to get away from her teammates, he hadn't noticed that she had a clear path to his exit. Signaling her team to keep fighting inside, Lucy jumped out of the hole and went after him.

* * *

Natsu screamed his throat raw as another memory was pulled from his mind for the mage to inspect. It felt like they'd been at it for hours. The mind reader had started with his earliest memories, ones Natsu hadn't even known he had, and systematically worked his way forward from there. Every so often he would stop and demand Natsu surrender his mind. Senses overloaded, Natsu found himself unable to resist.

He was weak as a newborn fawn, gasping on the ground like a drowning man starved of air. But still, Natsu tried to fight. Like hell he'd let this guy control him. Groaning, he rolled over onto his stomach and lifted his head.

The dark mage crouched down, just out of reach. "Are you ready yet? You must know it's useless to resist. I can see every little detail of your mind. I'm impressed. Most people don't last so long, you know," the man said, cocking his head and studying Natsu like a particularly interesting science experiment.

Natsu shook his head doggedly, ignoring how his head swam as he did so. The man sighed, "Very well. Although… I think it's time we changed tactics, don't you?"

Before Natsu could respond with something crude, he was hit again, the pain forcing him into the fetal position and drawing another cry from his mouth. But this time, the images weren't an orderly recitation of his past. This time, the memories were all of Lucy.

Lucy waving at him as she ran up to him in the guild. Lucy serving up an enormous plate of fire chicken. Lucy screaming at him as she literally kicked him out of her apartment. Lucy reaching up to pull him down to her in the dark of her room… Natsu froze, clawing for the memory. That was his! He wasn't sharing with anyway, especially not this bastard!

He focused on it, harder than anything in his life. It was agonizing, but they didn't call him hard headed for nothing. The pressure ceased after what seemed like an eternity of struggle. Natsu opened his eyes to find the dark mage's rotted teeth bared in a snarl inches away from him.

"So this is what happens when we tap your emotional center, hmm? It's unusual to see someone get so focused, but that will only make you break more when I finally get in!" the mage laughed cruelly. "Perhaps when you're done with this pointless struggle, we can go find her. You can have her sometimes if you're good. After me, of course."

Natsu ignited, whipping up a hand toward his nemesis' face. But as fast as he was, he couldn't beat the speed of a thought. His muscles spasmed as pictures of Lucy converged on him. Her light laugh tinkled all around him and her voice layered over itself as the memories overlapped.

Natsu felt himself tiring. What had the man said? They would go find Lucy? He'd wanted to go find her for ages. It sounded nice. He would get to see her again. Dimly he was aware of the dark mage cackling as Natsu's will foundered. The river turned into a stream, which slowed to a trickle. One last image floated by, Lucy sitting at her desk, writing, as he came in the window. She turned as she heard him, smiling at him and reaching out with one ink smudged hand to welcome him home.

Surrounded by darkness, Natsu reached out toward the light of that last memory. He grasped it firmly. Something was buzzing, and as he focused it resolved itself into a little voice in the back of his head, yelling at him. It sounded surprisingly like Makarov.

" _Get up, brat! You're more stubborn than this! Who's supposed to welcome that girl of yours home if you don't? Now get up and protect your nakama!"_

Natsu exploded up from the ground, the last of his magic setting him ablaze. He saw the shock on the mage's face before he tackled him to the ground, hard. Natsu punched the man in the face, leaving an ugly burn on his cheek, before pummeling his torso. He thought he heard a rib or two crack.

"Stop! You shouldn't be able to do this! I see everythi—" he choked off as Natsu grabbed him by the throat.

"You see everything, do you?" he growled, pushed over the edge by the torment and the threat to Lucy. "Well maybe it's time you see _nothing_."

* * *

She tore down the path after the man, gasping for air. Her head throbbed where she'd been hit, and after working all day with little food, her magic took more of a toll on her than usual. Lucy didn't think she'd be able to hold her Stardress much longer.

A jet of that sickly green fire came her way and she dodged, throwing herself into a forward roll before continuing the chase. She was gaining despite the fire he kept shooting back at her. Lucy aimed as best she could while dodging through trees, and sent a beam of light at her quarry's back. She missed, barely, but he sent a look of pure terror over his shoulder. _Good._

Lucy skidded to a halt as she passed the last tree, finding herself suddenly in the barren area next to the gaping chasm. She could see the bridge a ways off to the north, but her focus was on the man in front of her. He raised his fists, flickering with flame. Her first scornful thought was that his stance was all wrong. But then, she was used to working with a world-class fire mage, not this poser.

She held her hands in front of her, a few inches apart, and began forming a ball of light in between them. "Give up! It's over, and I'm bringing you in! You can tell us all about this Ascension!"

His eyes bulged. "You said you knew everything about it! What could you possibly need from me?"

She laughed. "I didn't even know it existed until you told me! You fell for the bluff and now you're going to pay for it."

He roared in rage and thrust his hands forward. Lucy tensed to jump out of the way of his flames, but they never came. As he pushed, the fire flickered bright around his hands for a moment, trying to reach toward her, before snuffing out altogether. He screamed.

"No! No, no no! It was supposed to last, it was supposed to keep giving me power!" he grabbed the orb she'd seen earlier and shook it roughly. The dim glow she'd seen it give off at the mine, however, was absent.

The portly foreman looked up at her, face rapidly turning the color of his flames. "Don't… don't take me," he pleaded, "the Lord won't accept failure. He'll find me. He can get to anyone!"

Lucy hesitated, the light between her hands waiting to be released. "If you tell me what you know, we can protect you!" she called to him. "Just come quietly and I can keep you safe."

She tried a smile and for a moment saw him waver. He took a step toward her. Then, "I can't. He'd know. He'd know and he'd come for me!" he cried out. He reversed directions, and before Lucy realized his intention, the malicious, pompous, cruel man had run to the edge of the abyss and thrown himself off, driven by a terror she had not known existed until now.

"NO!" Lucy screamed, running to the edge and throwing herself flat on her stomach to peer over desperately. The ravine was deep, dark, and jagged. She saw a glimmer for a moment as his bejeweled coat caught the light, and then it was gone.

* * *

Natsu glared down at his torturer. All the memories he'd dredged up had left Natsu raw, teeming with dark emotions. He couldn't let this man go. He would go after Lucy, now that he knew she was the way to Natsu's heart. He'd find her. Hurt her. Use her. Natsu wasn't going to let that let his fire start at his shoulder and slowly twine down his arm. Inch by careful inch, it snaked its way toward his hand, gripping the other man's face. His fingers were set just below the dark mage's eyes, which were now wide with terror.

The flames had just reached his wrist when he heard a whimper coming from under one of the tables. His head whipped around, searching. Was it another enemy? Someone else here to make him a willing zombie?

Natsu craned his neck, and finally spotted a huddled lump half hidden in the shadows. The lump realized it had been spotted, and scrambled backwards, inadvertently revealing itself as a little girl. Her eyes were wide, and tears had run down her face and mixed with snot. She was trembling as she stared at him.

Natsu shut off his flames immediately. Cursing, he punched his captive between the eyes, knocking him out. What was he doing? He'd let the beast within him take over, stripped down to instinct alone by the fight. But there was no mistaking the fear in that kid's eyes. It was directed at him. The thought made Natsu ill. What had he almost become?

Carefully he climbed off the other man, taking a moment to tie, gag, and blindfold him. He wouldn't be able to stand up to another onslaught. Moving ever so slowly, Natsu awkwardly crawled over to the little girl, trying to look small and nonthreatening. She looked about seven, with reddish brown hair and large grey eyes.

"Hey there, kiddo," he held his hands palm out, plastering on a friendly smile. "My name is Natsu. What's yours?"

She sniffled, "Tara. Did my dad send you?"

Natsu blinked. "He didn't, but I can help you try to find him. Do you know where he might be?"

"We live in Oakton," she mumbled, "we were gonna go camping this week after my uncle visited but then he brought me here instead." Her eyes flicked to the bound man behind Natsu. He stared uncomprehendingly before it clicked.

"This guy is your uncle? Why the hell, shoot, heck, why the _heck,_ would he bring you out here? Does your dad know?"

She shook her head, tears welling up once more. "He said he was gonna be my dad now because my daddy wasn't doing good enough training me," she cried, "but I was doing a good job! I'm just little! Daddy says when you're little your magic is little too, and that's ok!"

Natsu felt anger flare up in him again at her words, but tamped it down. What kind of monster took a kid's dad away for what was undoubtedly a dark purpose? He held out his arms, "Well, I'm gonna take you over to Oakton just as soon as the Guards get here, ok?"

She came out from under the table, hesitating only a moment before snuggling into his side.

* * *

Lucy sagged in despair, pulling back from the ledge and laying on her back, looking up at the sky. Why? He had been so afraid… she let the Stardress go, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes, hard, trying to stem her tears. She should have seen it. She should have stopped him. Whatever he had been and done, she hadn't wanted this.

She lay there for what felt like forever, barely aware of the sun passing over the lip of the horizon. She was finally roused by footsteps padding toward her, and the soft sounds of someone settling down next to her.

"Lucy," it was Anise. "I'm glad you're alright. What happened to the foreman?"

She was too upset still to say anything, so she just pointed to the ravine. Anise sighed, "He threw himself in there, didn't he?" Lucy nodded, still facing the stars. Anise carefully lay down next to her. She placed one hand over Lucy's.

"It's not your fault."

"Is it not?" Lucy cried. "I should have realized. I should have stopped him!"

"Lucy. Listen to me," Anise had turned her head to face Lucy, "sometimes you do everything you can, and it's not enough. He was cruel, a coward, a bully. A murderer," she whispered the last part softly, voice full of pain. "I'm not sorry that he's dead. I can't be. But I wish it had not happened this way. But please," she sat back up, tugging Lucy with her, "come back to the fort with me. Everyone is worried. Your team would be out here, but I offered to come so they could try and handle the mess at the mine right now. You can light a candle for his spirit later, if you want, but don't feel that you've failed. Come use what he told you to help finish this mission you're on."

Lucy wiped her eyes with one hand. "Alright, Anise," she croaked. "I'll be back in a minute. Can you let everyone know I'm alright?"

The older woman nodded, "Of course, Lucy. And for what it's worth—thank you."

She got up and walked away, leaving Lucy to lean back against a tree. The smell of ash from one of the gouts of flame wafted into her nose, and she closed her eyes. Funny, that ash should be calming. She breathed it in and imagined a warm arm around her and a bright voice reminding her that Fairy Tail did not give up. She opened her eyes.

"Ok, Natsu," she whispered. "I'm coming."

She got to her feet and carried on up the hill toward the mine.

* * *

Natsu walked slowly, the events of the day making his limbs more sluggish than usual. That, and he didn't want to jostle the girl on his back. Tara clung to him, sucking on a lollipop one of the guards had given her. She hadn't said much on their way back to Oakton, but now she pulled the sweet out of her mouth.

"Mr. Natsu?" she asked in a small voice. "Can I ask a question?"

He nodded. "Sure, kiddo. What's up?"

Her voice was almost a whisper, "Who was the pretty blonde lady that made you so angry?"

He hesitated before answering. "You saw her? Your magic is… is like your uncles'?"

He felt her nod."Kind of. I can only see the pictures someone else makes, though. My dad lets me sit with him and learn when he has patients. But he doesn't hurt anyone. He says our magic should be to help people, not hurt them."

"How does that work, then? What does your dad do?"

Tara beamed with pride. "He helps people with bad memories they can't forget! Or sometimes the guards come to our house with a… with a… wit-nuss?"

Natsu grinned. "A witness? People who saw a crime and can't quite remember?"

"Yeah! But when he does it everything feels warm and bubbly. It's nice."

Natsu nodded thoughtfully. He would have assumed that this form of magic could only be used for evil. But as always, it was the mage themselves who made their choices guiding their power. He realized he hadn't answered Tara's question.

"Lucy is my partner. She's my best friend, and she's on a mission right now to help a lot of people," he told her.

"You must miss her a lot, Mr. Dragneel."

"Yeah. I'm mad at her, too, though," he murmured, "she left without really saying goodbye and I haven't heard from her since. And I worry about her a lot. I just want her to be safe." He didn't know why he was telling a child all this, but it felt good to get it off his chest. He left out the part about seeing Lucy in his dreams, though. He had some sense of propriety, whatever Erza might say.

Tara was quiet a moment, looking at the sunset as she sucked on her lolly. "I bet she misses you, too, Mr. Dragneel," she said cheerfully. "I'd miss my boyfriend if he was gone!"

Natsu choked and stumbled, righting himself before he sent them both into the dirt. "Boyfriend?" he spluttered. "No, no, no, we're just friends!" He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and caught a worldly look that seemed too mature for her young features.

"Mr. Natsu, you totally like her. Like, you like-like her. And your memories looked like she like-liked you, too," she stated with an air of certainty found only in childhood. "I can _tell._ When she comes back you can tell her, and then she can tell you why she didn't write."

He couldn't help it, he laughed. His chest felt lighter than it had in days. What was that saying? From the mouth of babes, or something? He'd always figured it meant 'from super hot women,' but apparently not.

They reached Oakton as the first stars popped out. Tara's father was overjoyed, sobbing and hugging Natsu a few more times than he was comfortable with. He turned down the reward from the man (for once, he'd received the full amount on the job posting), but couldn't say no to some food pressed on him for the road.

On the walk back, he looked up at the stars, trying to pick out the constellations Lucy was always showing him. He was still mad at her. Still worried, and confused, and full of longing. But the storm constantly raging had calmed. For the first time since she left, Natsu Dragneel felt that he could rest.

He just hoped she came home soon.

* * *

When she stepped foot back in the fort it had changed drastically. She could hear laughter and singing, and as she came into the light cast by a large fire the newly freed slaves cried out greetings. Lucy couldn't help but smile. Whatever terrible events the day had held, at least these people would get to go home. She deliberately avoided looking at the dark corner where all who had fallen, guard and civilian alike, had been laid.

She accepted a large sandwich from Torin, who was presiding over a massive cauldron sitting in the flames. He rested a large hand on her shoulder for a moment, then patted her back as she walked over to Lona and Rai. They both smiled and reached out to pull her onto a bench, leaning on her and murmuring soothing words as she ate. Lucy smiled again. If she had to leave her team for a bit, she was glad she'd chosen this one.

Once she'd washed down the last bite, Lona spoke. Torin had come to join them at some point. "We found out a few things, Lucy. You're not going to like it."

The Celestial mage looked up sharply, "What is it?"

"We talked to some of the guards and the man you mentioned who works with lacrima. We also broke into the foreman's study and went through his papers. The lacrima is really rare. When processed, it can not only store power, but a regular person can absorb that power and use it. Basically, you can create a mage. For a short time, at least."

Lucy frowned. So that's what the foreman had used to create his flames. No wonder he'd run out! "Where does the lacrima get the power, though?" she asked.

"That's the part we don't like. You would have to take it from another mage, and they don't need the mage to be willing. The foreman didn't have much in his papers, but it seems like the one he had was a gift from Malleolus and they'd used the power of a fire mage."

Lucy felt the blood drain from her face. "So they could be stealing power from anyone? Is that why they separated out mages at the warehouse?"

"They might have used those mages for some lacrima, but from what we've found it looks like this Ascension needs some special kind of magic. Half of this crap is in code, so we don't know what kind or what the actual process is," Rai explained, taking a frustrated gulp of her water. "But we do know our next stop."

Lucy leaned forward. "Where are we going?"

Torin grinned. "Well, this is the good news. We need a codebreaker if we're going to decipher these notes, and luckily for us there's one a few towns over from where they've been sending the lacrima."

"Where?"

"The lacrima goes to a town called Desmonde in Fiore."

Lucy gasped. For a moment she felt lightheaded. "You mean…"

Rai laughed, "That's right. We're headed back to Magnolia as soon as the Rune Knights get here to take over."

Magnolia. Fairy Tail. Natsu.

They were going home.

* * *

 **Hooray! Lucy's finally headed back to Fairy Tail! Drop me a review to let me know what you think!**

 **This week's author shoutout is getting expanded a bit-I have too many authors and not enough chapters (I think. Tis the sketchiest of outlines right now)**

 **But let's give it up for the NaLu gurus, MsLead-Kytrin! I have to assume we've all read their work; they're amazing. Parallels was the first NaLu fanfic I ever read, and it inspired me to start writing my own.**

 **We also have to give a big round of applause to Snogfairy, another amazing author.**

 **And of course, when we look at the three of them, we have to include the joint account between MsLead, Kytrin, and Snogfairy: Eviltrinity. Everyone go leave a review begging them to finish "Into the Ring," because I have to know how it ends.**

 **That's it for this week! Can't wait to see you all next week with the homecoming chapter.**


	8. Reunion

**Welcome back, everyone! As promised, Team Ceartas is back at Fairy Tail!**

* * *

Lucy's heart was pounding in her ears. Nervous sweat practically dripped off her palms as she dried them on her pants. Flustered, she let her hair down around her shoulders, only to pull it back into a ponytail. A hand landed on her shoulder and Rai grinned at her. "You look fine, Lucy," she said, "and anyway, I think everyone will be happy to see you however you're dressed."

Lucy nodded shakily as they rounded the final corner and Fairy Tail came into view. She wasn't worried about how her guild mates 一 her family 一 would react to her homecoming.. But, perhaps she was slightly worried? Apprehensive? Nervous? Her writer's mind flipped through her mental thesaurus, trying to find the most accurate synonym to describe her state of mind. But as Lona threw the doors open, her mess of emotions coalesced into one overpowering feeling: _anticipation_.

A cry went up from the assembled mages and all four of them were assaulted with bear-embraces. Lucy laughed, a little tearful, overjoyed to finally be _home._ But as she fended off Cana's advances on her boobs and returned Levy's hug, her eyes were roving the guildhall.

"Lucy!" Mira trilled, throwing her arms around the Celestial wizard. "I'm so happy you're back!" she tugged Lucy over to the bar, firmly setting her down and whipping up a strawberry milkshake. "Natsu is going to be so upset he missed your homecoming!"

"He's… he's not here?" she'd been so sure he'd be at the guild.

"No, he went on a mission with Lisanna and Happy. They should be back in a couple of days, I think."

"Oh… I mean, that's alright, of course! I just thought, since we called ahead last week when we hit the border, he might have..." she trailed off.

Mira frowned. That's right, Lona had called the guild to make sure Team ShadowGear wouldn't be gone. There was something said between the two about needing Levy's expertise. She'd told Lisanna about it, assuming her sister would pass on the news to Natsu, given their increased amount of time in each other's presence. Was he deliberately avoiding Lucy? It didn't seem like the fire mage. Something felt off here, but Lucy looked completely dejected and she needed comfort asap.

Mira covered Lucy's hand with her own. "Perhaps it was something that couldn't wait. And they'll be back soon anyway. Just a few days."

Lucy, who'd been looking hopeful, slumped again. "I don't know how long we're going to be here, Mira," she sighed. "We found a bunch of papers we need Levy to translate. Once it's done we'll be back on the hunt. It looks to be time sensitive and there are lives depending on our findings."

Mira studied the mage in front of her. This wasn't the same Lucy that had left in tears nearly two months ago. This Lucy had a determined glint in her eye Mira had never seen, and her focus, already intimidating, had sharpened to a knife's edge. But there was something else, something intangible that Mira nevertheless felt with certainty. The insecure girl who had left had returned a confident woman. Competent. Dangerous.

She was going to knock Natsu's _socks_ off.

Mira hid her smile and passed Lucy six milkshakes on a tray. "One more for you, love, one for each of your teammates, one for Levy, and for Gajeel."

"Gajeel?" Lucy checked behind her and indeed, Gajeel sat next to Levy as she went over the documents with Team Ceartas. Raising a brow at Mira, Lucy lowered her voice, "Are you sure Gajeel drinks milkshakes?"

Mira laughed, "Of course! He has them all the time. His is the cotton candy one with the iron shavings on top."

Dutifully, she carried the shakes over, setting one down in front of everyone. As she tentatively handed one to Gajeel, he shot a furious glare in Mira's direction. Lucy heard his mutter of "that's the last time I ask her to make me anything after hours!" before he chugged the shake, hiding the glass under the table.

Grinning to herself and saving that tidbit for future blackmail, Lucy sat down with Levy to start the tedious task of translating the notes.

* * *

"Natsu, wait!"

He turned, confused and annoyed. This was the sixth time Lisanna had held them up since they finished the job. It was like she didn't want to go back to the guild! He was tired, hungry, and covered in his own ash after the fight. All he wanted was to go home, jump in the river behind his house, and stuff his face before falling into his hammock.

Instead, he trudged back up the path to his teammate. She was huddled on the ground, wincing. For the hundredth time that day he wondered why on Earthland she'd worn shorts in the chilly weather. It reminded him painfully of Lucy, but while her shivering held a certain charm, he was just annoyed with Lisanna's lack of foresight.

"I think I've twisted my ankle! We'll have to stop here for the night," she said, rubbing the rapidly swelling appendage.

Natsu shook his head, pulling off his pack and handing it to Happy. "You know I love camping, Lis, but I really just want to get home this time. Hop on my back and I'll carry you."

Her face scrunched up and Natsu thought she looked a little constipated. "Well, why do you want to be back so fast? We finished this mission up a day and a half early, we've got plenty of time," she whined.

He ran a hand down his weary face, sighing. "It's not about time, I just want to be home. So either hop on or Happy can carry you."

"No way!" Happy gasped, outraged. "I'd rather take the pack! The pack won't whine at me, and it has fish!"

"Fine. Hop on, or you go over my shoulder."

Lisanna grimaced. Looks like she was stuck. She let Natsu help her onto his back, silently cursing all the while. What was the point of sticking her foot in that stupid pothole if it wasn't going to slow them down? She fervently hoped that Lucy and her team hadn't needed much from Levy. If she was lucky they'd be gone by the time she, Natsu, and Happy got back. Natsu didn't need that meddling bitch with her emotional ploys. He'd be so much happier if he never even knew she was there.

In the meantime, at least now she got to ride Natsu… she let her mind wander down that complicated but intoxicating road for a moment, before pulling herself back to the present. Fantasize later, enjoy now! She relaxed into him, enjoying the strong muscles of his shoulders and warm back, his calloused hands digging into the sensitive flesh of her thighs… and how, with every step, those hands slipped further up into unchartered territory.. Thank heavens she wore shorts today. She'd caught him looking, too. Probably checking her out. Lisanna smiled. If only Lucy wouldn't be there when they got back, then everything would be perfect.

* * *

Lucy's head hit the table with a thud. She and Levy had been working for what felt like nonstop for two days to translate the UnderLord's suspect notes. There had been pages and pages of complex forms and reports, all written in a code apparently used by all senior UnderLord members. Once they'd cracked the code, they'd started translating. Most of the papers hadn't been related to the next step in their mission and Lucy was starting to feel discouraged until an hour ago, when Levy had stumbled onto a sheaf of papers she thought might be useful.

Both girls were a mess. Lucy's hair was tangled, her clothes rumpled. Her eyes were bloodshot from squinting at letters, and she thought she might be permanently hunchbacked. Her team, not much help with codes and languages, had kept a steady supply of coffee coming. Levy and her would have a much-needed half hour break taste-testing Torin and Mira's coffee in a "roast off." Then Cana had submitted her contribution and the girls had had to move their work into another room for the night to avoid the guild's hyper-caffeinated, drunken rager.

Lucy stood to stretch, walking across the room to the bar. Thus she was smack dab in the middle of the room when the doors were thrown open.

"We made it back alive!"

She froze. Slowly, inch by torturous inch, her head turned. And there he was. Pink hair in wild disarray, clothes ripped, covered in what looked like soot with sweat streaks across his face. He was beautiful. He was everything she'd ever wanted. He was… carrying Lisanna?

Her heart plummeted as suddenly as it had risen and she placed a hand to her chest, pressing hard on her sternum as she looked at his hands, hands that she'd last seen tenderly cupping her face, squeezing into the flesh of another woman's thighs.

She looked away. What had she been expecting? She'd left him. _Yeah, but he didn't have to kiss you back only to jump into someone else's arms!_ her inner voice argued. She risked a glance back at the door. And froze, because he was staring right at her, Lisanna nowhere to be seen.

As soon as he'd caught her scent his world hyper-focused. He had tunnel vision, and at the end of that endless ravine was Lucy. He didn't even notice dropping Lisanna and taking a few halting steps forward. She wasn't looking at him and he took the time to drink her in. She was wearing sensible clothes, for once, and he thought he saw new muscle in her shoulders.

Then she turned back and his breath caught in his throat. She was even more breathtaking than when she'd left. Her eyes were wide and he happily drowned in their depths.

Somehow, they'd crossed the hall, only a few paces away from each other. She reached out, tentatively, "Natsu?"

"Lucy!"

The spell was broken as she was yanked to the side by Levy. "Lucy, you've got to come see this! Rai is getting Master, this is really, really bad. You come too, Natsu," the small mage panted, dragging Lucy behind her over to their table. "Wendy! Laxus! You guys need to come over here!" she yelled across the hall.

Natsu, snapped out of his reverie, hurried to follow the two women across the hall. Any other time he would have lashed out, but there was an undercurrent of fear in Levy's voice. Whatever was going on must be bad.

Most of the guild gathered around Levy, Team Ceartas, Master, and the Dragonslayers at the forefront. Levy took a deep breath, looking around and all the expectant faces, "Maybe first you should explain what you've been doing, guys."

Lona gave a brief overview of their mission to the crowd while Lucy tried hard not to stare at Natsu. What did this all mean? What had he been doing with Lisanna? She shook it off as Levy stepped back to the forefront.

"Lucy and I have been translating the papers found at the mine for the last two days. We finally got through the papers describing what the lacrima is for and where it's being sent. Team Ceartas was right: it's used to suck power away from one mage and give it to another."

An angry ripple went through the crowd at her words.

"While the UnderLords can do a lot of awful things with this, they're planning something specific. Next week is what's called the Blood Moon," Levy looked to Lona.

"The Blood Moon," Lona explained, "only happens once every few years. Sometimes every few decades, it depends on the alignment of planets within our Solar System. The moon turns a deep rust color, like old blood. It's thought to amplify dark magic and increase the power of malicious spells, among a few other things."

"The UnderLords," Levy continued, "are planning to use the Blood Moon to activate a massive lacrima structure they've been creating with everything that's come from the mine. This won't just borrow power from one mage and give it to another to use. If they've built this thing right, it will suck out the very soul of someone's magic; their core. It will then transfer this core into another person."

The hall was hushed. Levy dropped her next words into the silence with the air of someone delivering a bomb, a cataclysmic truth: "It appears that the UnderLords wish to turn their leader, Domme Malleolus, into a dragon. And to do this, they will use every single Dragonslayer they can get their hands on."

The guild exploded with activity.

People were shouting, fighting, running to barricade the doors. Various magics were charged up as everyone prepared for an imminent attack. The chaos gave way to nothing 一 it wasn't until the Master grew to his full, titanic size and stomped one gargantuan foot down on the ground that stillness reigned. "Silence!" he boomed. "Running about manically will not solve this problem! This is _not_ preparation, this is _panic_!"

He shrank back down and clambered onto the bar to address the frightened crowd. "This Blood Moon is in a week. It appears that the lacrima has all been sent to a town two days from here by carriage. That means the UnderLord's stronghold is likely nearby," he eyed the group, impressing his leadership upon them. "So here is what we are going to do. Teams will be sent to scout for the base. When we find it, we will storm and attack it and destroy this soul-stealing lacrima. In the meantime, the Slayers will be kept in the guild under constant guard."

Predictably, there was an outcry from the male Dragonslayers. Wendy, quite sensibly, had attached herself to Erza the moment the announcement had been made.

"But Gramps!" Natsu protested furiously. "We don't need a guard! We can take care of ourselves!"

"For once I agree with flamehead," Gajeel growled, "let us at this asshole's headquarters and we'll raze it to the ground."

Laxus looked down his nose at the crowd, "Anyone who tries to protect me is getting fried."

"Shut up, you idiots," Makarov snapped. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "This group has the power and ability to raid five towns, control a slavery mine in complete secrecy, and operate across at least two countries. If you think they don't have the resources and forethought to overcome you, then you are fools."

That revelation quieted the Slayers. Makarov pointed around the room, divvying up scouting teams. From the mages who were to stay behind, he created rotating bodyguard duties for each Slayer. Lucy was surprised to find herself paired with Wendy in the mornings. She would've assumed she'd be out scouting with the rest of Team Ceartas, or placed with Natsu. Although given her emotional turmoil, she couldn't help but be relieved not to be placed with the fiery Dragonslayer.

Still, she approached the Master as the crowd thinned. He smiled and spoke before she could open her mouth, "I trust that you've learned much in your time away, Lucy," his eyes twinkled.

"I… well, yes. On our way back from the mine I was able to truly tap into my Stardresses," she answered, confused at the subject.

"That is good. I can see your confidence. But I was referring not to your magic, but to your heart," he answered in his philosophical way.

Lucy blushed. "Oh! I, um, I suppose I have learned quite a bit. But I'm still so confused, Master!"

She cast an involuntary glance toward Lisanna, who'd been paired with Natsu in the evenings. Makarov caught her look. His face wrinkled up in a smile."Child, you're wondering why you've been assigned to Wendy. You would be invaluable wherever I put you, let that be understood. You've proven yourself to be an asset to Team Ceartas… I can tell by how put out they looked when I placed you here at the guild. Think of this as a chance to truly learn where your duties belong 一 where your _heart_ lies. Here you can be close to Natsu, but not forced to be in his presence. You two can naturally work things out at your own pace."

Lucy closed her eyes. A curious relief ran through her, along with a shiver of trepidation. For the first time in months she had the chance to muddle through her feelings. On the other hand, she was now in uncharted territory. Did she have a team? A partner? Smiling at Master in thanks, she walked over to her team of the last few months. They had all their gear spread out on two tables, going through it and repacking what they would need. Her bag sat alone in a corner.

"Lucy!" Lona cried, pulling her into an embrace. Rai attached herself to Lucy's other side, and then Torin picked up all three of them in a massive bear hug. Lucy found herself laughing and crying, thankful for the opportunity to grow as a mage and a person with these three over the last nine weeks.

"C'mon, Lucy, don't cry," Rai scolded gently, "this isn't goodbye. Even if we're never on a team together again, it's not goodbye."

"We couldn't have done this without you, Lucy," Torin added, "and now it's time for you to help someone else. Wendy is going to need your sharp eyes."

"Plus," Lona teased, "Wendy isn't the only one who needs you!" Lucy batted her away as she waggled her eyebrows in Natsu's direction across the guild hall.

"Be safe out there, guys," she said softly, "the world needs you, too."

Torin handed her a sandwich. "How can I keep on teaching you to cook if we die? It would be tragic. You were getting too good."

Rai laughed. "And we have to keep sparring. Remember how we said we're going to take Erza down together?" Lucy grimaced. Clearly she'd forgotten the terror inspired by the requip mage while she was gone.

Lona laughed at her face. "Don't worry, Lucy. You can hit her with that mini Metria spell. It'll tickle her enough to distract her and then we can all run."

That made Lucy laugh, too, especially since Lona had seen her blast three bandits with that spell just a few days ago. She shared one more long hug, then grabbed her bag and headed over to Wendy, carefully making a wide loop around Natsu and not looking at him. She had a job to do and couldn't afford to be distracted until her shift was over.

She smiled at her young charge, grinning when Wendy threw her arms around her. "Lucy! I'm so glad you're with me!" the girl's eyes widened. "Are…is someone really trying to take away my magic?" Wendy whispered, trembling slightly.

Lucy put her hand over Wendy's, which was fidgeting with the ends of her hair nervously. "Yeah, Wendy, they are. I won't lie to you, these are some really bad people. But that's why Fairy Tail is here, to stop them. We won't let anyone hurt you."

"Aye! I'll protect you, Wendy!" Happy had swooped in, unnoticed. He'd carefully angled himself so his best side was facing Carla, and he puffed up his chest a little as he made his pronouncement. The little cat couldn't keep up his macho posturing for long, and he leapt forward into Lucy's arms.

"Lucy!" he wailed, "we missed you so much! No one gives me yummy fish like you do!" he looked up at her with watering eyes, and her heart melted when he added on in a small voice, "You're not gonna leave again, right? It's not the same when you're gone."

She snuggled him, scratching behind his ears. "I'm still fighting the UnderLords, Happy, and I don't know what's going to happen with that. But for right now I'm here while we protect Wendy, and once they're defeated I'll be back for good. I promise."

Happy nodded. "Can I help protect Wendy, too?"

"Of course you can, Happy! But wouldn't you want to stay with Natsu?" Lucy stumbled a little on his name, tongue catching on a moniker that felt strangely foreign now. Had it really only been nine weeks?

"Natsu is so strong, he'll probably end up protecting his bodyguards. But I can help patrol Magnolia and stay with you guys during the day? I want to help!"

Wendy giggled, reaching over to ruffle Happy's fur. "That would be really nice, Happy. Thank you," she said softly. Lucy was glad to see her nervous fidgeting had stopped entirely. Wendy looked up, meeting her eyes. "You should tell us about your adventures, Lucy. I heard what you said to Master. Maybe you can show me some fighting moves, too?"

Lucy beamed at her, "That's a great idea, Wendy! You're right, we should!"

Carla sniffed and looked over to Happy. "I suppose you and I could go patrol together since Lucy is watching Wendy, tomcat. A short flight of course; we must be back before one of these other peons tries to take over her safety." Happy's fur turned purple as he blushed. He nodded eagerly and jumped down to the table while she nuzzled Wendy goodbye.

Slyly, he turned to Lucy. "You know, I'm not the only one who missed you. Natsu's been waiting for you to get home, too," he winked at her. Now it was her turn to blush a deep red as she shushed him. He giggled, jumping into the air and out of reach. "Now that you've lost some weight, Lucy, you might even have a chance!" he called as he and Carla zoomed away.

Lucy thought she felt steam coming out of her ears and debated sending a light comet after him. Happy was too fast though, ducking out the door before she could make good on the thought.

She sighed, turning to Wendy. "I guess it's you and me for now! Why don't we get some hot chocolate and you can tell me what you've been up to while I've been gone?" Wendy nodded and Lucy sat her down by the bar, carefully selecting their seats so that she had a good view of the guild and a clear path to the exit.

She was so focused on watching for possible threats and making the little Slayer feel at ease, she didn't see Natsu's eyes following her every move.

* * *

The next three days were torturous. She'd spent the time working up the courage to talk to Natsu, going to look for him, then losing all nerve and literally hiding from him. It didn't help that everyone in the guild was on high alert, and there had been no chance to catch him alone. She was starting to wish Master had just paired them together. At least they could've gotten it over with sooner rather than this slow cat and mouse game.

While she was 'on-duty' with Wendy, she did her best to shut him out of her mind completely. She would never forgive herself if Wendy was taken because she'd been distracted. She spent most of her free time rounding the guild, checking over papers with Levy for anything they may have missed, and walking the streets of Magnolia looking for any signs of danger. Inevitably, she would run out of things to do and end right back at the guild, semi-stalking Natsu.

As the days went by, she worried herself into a frenzy. What had started as looking for an honest, open talk between two close friends had devolved into something she barely recognized. She didn't know if she wanted to kiss him or kill him. She saw him across the hall, dark and brooding under his house arrest. She felt his fire magic simmer as they passed each other, but without a chance to release the tension, it only built, sparking an answering passion in her blood.

But why hadn't he said anything? He barely looked at her. She saw him talking with everyone else, and Lisanna was practically glued to him, whether she was off duty or on. Had he chosen her? He could at least have the decency to say something!

She was going crazy, and on the third day when she finally saw her chance, she snatched it without looking back.

* * *

The three days since the announcement had been brutal. Lisanna could only see Lucy, everywhere she turned. It was like the girl was following them! If only she'd been able to keep Natsu on that damn mission for a few more days. Why had Master kept her behind? Shouldn't she be out scouting with her new team, the one she'd chosen over Natsu?

It was horrible. Natsu had been distant when Lucy left, and had only just come out of his shell, but now he barely spoke to the takeover mage. She saw his eyes track Lucy whenever she entered a room, and saw how quickly he looked away whenever she deigned to glance their way. How could she be so callous? Lisanna knew Lucy would be looking for the chance to corner him, to tear him apart even more than she already had. Was it all just a game to her? Lisanna couldn't take that chance. She couldn't allow him to be hurt. So she stuck to Natsu like glue, using herself as a protective shield all for him. A comfort.

But she had to sleep sometime.

* * *

He'd been driven slowly insane over the last three days. Her scent was everywhere, making his fallen star pale in comparison. She hadn't spoken to him. He supposed he hadn't said anything either, but his every step was dogged by one of his useless shadows, and besides, she was the one who left, wasn't she? Left, hadn't dropped a single line since, and now wouldn't talk to him? He was angry, furious, and then her scent would waft by or he'd hear her laugh and he would drown in desire all over again. In those moments, he could drop to his knees at her feet and beg for _her_ forgiveness. It was driving him mad.

He would find the courage to talk to her, but either she was guarding Wendy 一 and although he regarded the protection detail useless for him, he would never do anything to distract someone from protecting the little Sky Slayer 一 or she seemed to have vanished. Was she hiding from him?

He was sure he could dodge Elfman for a little bit, or even Gray (he just knew Master had done that as some kind of sick joke), but he could _not_ shake off Lisanna. And she was sticking to him like a burr, unless they were asleep. He was grateful she was taking this kidnapping thing seriously, he really was, but she really didn't need to sit right next to him all the time. She'd really get in the way if he had to punch someone.

And then, on the third night, he snapped. He was awake, the combination of pent up energy and being driven mad contributing to his insomnia. Elfman was watching the window and occasionally rounding to the hallway. Natsu waited until he was checking the corridor, then hopped out of bed and punched the pillows into place under his blankets. When Elfman came back, glancing at the bed before repositioning himself at the window, Natsu was sliding silently out the door.

Oh, sweet freedom!

He slipped down the steps, avoiding Vijeeter stationed in the main hall, and shimmied out a window from the kitchen. He gulped in fresh air, throwing his head back. He almost felt like Wendy, sampling the wind and welcoming its fresh thrill to his senses.

The moon gave him plenty of light to navigate his way past the pool to the little hillock of grass. He hadn't a plan in mind; he just wanted to get out for a bit, but he pulled up short at the glint of moonlight off soft blonde hair.

He should go. They were preparing for an invasion, she had guard duty in the morning… how had he gotten so much closer to her?

Lucy looked up and drew a sharp intake of breath as Natsu strode across the park, directly toward her. She sat up quickly, rising to meet him as he stopped in front of her. His warm breath ghosted across her face, pinpricks of pleasure raising the fine down on her arms, the back of her neck. She couldn't help the shudder, but she clamped down on the pleased sigh dancing on her tongue, begging to be released to the chill air. Neither of them spoke for a moment, nothing but the night between them.

"So you're back. Would've been nice to know you were coming. Or leaving, come to that," his voice was low, dangerous even. He was angry. Lucy's own emotions flared in response.

"We've been over that already. You _know_ why I left. And we radioed the guild to let them know! It's not my fault you weren't there," she snapped.

His eyes narrowed, and he leaned in even closer, "Yeah, I know why you left. What I don't know is why you'd kiss me like it meant something and then leave like it didn't!"

She gasped, outraged. "It did mean something! You're the one acting like nothing happened and you don't care! Well, congratulations on finding someone else. I hope you're very happy together."

She whipped around to go inside, only for his scorching hand to grab her wrist and yank her back to him. "Oh, _hell,_ no. You are not running away again. Someone else? There is no one else! Although after two months of radio silence I think I'd have the right to move on!"

She yanked at his hand, and when that didn't work, used the weight of her body and his grip to twist them around and give herself the upper hand. He looked completely shocked for a second, then broke her lock and grappled with her.

They wrestled a moment, snarling at each other like caged beasts, before Lucy hooked Natsu's ankle and they tripped. He turned them on the way down so that he landed on her, one hand behind her head to support it. She pushed at his heaving chest, but he wasn't budging.

"Radio silence? Since when are you so dramatic? I know two letters isn't much but it was the best I could do, ok?!"

He stared at her, frozen. "Letters? I never got any letters."

"Well, I wrote them addressed to the guild and sent them through the post," she snapped. "There's no reason for you not to have gotten them, that's where all your mail goes. Check on it more often, idiot!"

He had checked his mail with negative results, but the mystery of the disappearing letters would have to wait. "So… so you… you've been writing?"

She looked up at him, all starkissed skin and moonlit eyes. "Yes! Of course I wrote you, you idiot, I 一 mmgh!"

He kissed her. One calloused hand cradled the back of her head, the other wrapped itself around her waist. His legs tangled with hers as he weighed her down. She wasn't going _anywhere_ this time. And it was clear she didn't want to. Her arms pulled his harsh lines into her shuddering chest as she greedily kissed him back. All his rage, loneliness, and desperation boiled down into this moment as he dominated her mouth with his own, and he felt her passion match his.

Finally, after all this time, everything felt so _right._ Elfman wouldn't know he was gone and Lucy had nothing to do until morning. They had all night.

His hand slipped daringly under her shirt, and she moaned and arched her back. Grinning wickedly against her mouth, he slid further up, just brushing the bottom of her warm, full breast.

Hands grabbed him roughly, yanking him away from the Summoner. He thrashed wildly, trying to get his bearings. Shadowy forms held him while two more attacked Lucy. He could see more people, dressed in black with masks over their faces, running out of the bushes and into the guild. One person approached him, soaking a cloth with some sort of liquid. His nose twitched at the smell of chloroform, and some other sharp, underlying scent coming from all three of his enemies.

Natsu roared, blasting the figure back and creating an effective noise and light show. He heard cries as the rest of the guild woke up to meet the invasion. He kicked one attacker in the knee and flipped the other over his head. Freed, he turned to help Lucy.

His jaw dropped, because she was kicking ass. Three UnderLords were attacking her, and she was holding them all off. A ball of light formed around one hand, and she sent it flying at the first opponent, smashing the man back into the trees. Her leg lifted at an impossible angle as she kicked another attacker in the face, then spun and wrapped her whip around the third.

Natsu quickly wiped a little drool off his chin. Fight now, fantasize later. The reunited partners spun around, placing themselves back to back as yet more faceless attackers crowded in. It was like getting on a bike after several years of abandonment. A moment of readjustment before old instincts kicked in. They fought in perfect synchronicity, defeating the waves that came at them.

Natsu grunted as he took another blow to the ribs, throwing the offending figure into two of his (or hers? The Gods only knew) buddies. He stumbled a little, lightheaded for a moment. Wiping his brow, he pulled his hand away in revulsion. Why was he slimy? His hand blurred in front of his eyes before he focused his vision again. What was going on?

The figures had pulled back slightly, watching. Lucy swayed a moment, then gasped. Too late she remembered the little pink feathered dart from the Portico warehouse. Natsu could burn darts from the air, but he couldn't incinerate something he couldn't see. In a flash of insight, she looked at the circling UnderLords' hands. The gloves weren't cloth, but latex, and as she swiped goo off her arm she realized that she and Natsu had been covered with ointment during their fight while their attackers were insulated from it.

She fell to one knee, sending a few half hearted light balls at the crowd around them. Behind her she heard a slurred curse as Natsu tried to keep his feet. But it was no use. Their magic could do nothing for them now. As she fell into unconsciousness, she tried to reach for him.

* * *

Lucy woke up a few hours later. The sun was rising, bathing her hilltop in a soft golden light. A few birds chirped softly and a breeze ruffled the flowers. It was an idyllic scene, save for the distraught mage in the center of it all.

Panicked, Lucy ran into the guild, still stumbling a bit with the aftereffects of the slimey concoction. Natsu's roar had woken up the guild, there were guards posted, they must have mounted a defense… she halted in the main hall. Fairy Tail was gathered there, people stumbling down steps and dragging themselves off the floor. Mira was checking people over while Master was on the lacrima with what Lucy guessed was the Council.

She sucked in a breath. Those bastards had come prepared. _Master was right,_ she thought bitterly, _they came primed for victory._ She saw Erza on the floor, head in her hands. Gray was sitting on a bench looking dazed. A breeze tugged on Lucy's hair and with some confusion she saw all the windows had been smashed. Juvia looked up from where she huddled next to Gray.

"They were using gas," she started, following the Celestial mage's sightline, "and Juvia was more resistant to it than the others because of Juvia's body, so when Juvia realized what was going on she used her Water Nebula on the windows. But it was already too late, too many people had been hit."

Levy spoke up from where she was collapsed over a table. The petite mage looked as devastated as Lucy felt. Lucy realized that she wasn't the only one who had lost a Dragonslayer she cared about. "Why leave us all alive?" Levy questioned hoarsely, "they have to know we'll come after them."

"They're arrogant," Lucy answered plainly. "It seems to be their only weakness. I bet Malleolus's first target after becoming a dragon is us. He'd like to show the world he can."

"Well, we won't be giving him that chance."

Everyone looked up to find the Master standing on the bar. His face had none of its usual cheery joviality. Instead, the old man radiated a cold fury. "These people have trespassed on our home, used chemical weapons against us, and kidnapped four of our brethren to experiment on. We will not tolerate it. Warren has contacted all of our scouting teams. They are relaying their information to him now, so that we may create a plan of attack. Team Ceartas believes they have found the stronghold. They will investigate further and we will know in a few hours. I have contacted the Council, and we have full reign to get our people back. Everyone see to the injured, and those of you able to fight be prepared to move out tonight."

The guild flew into a whirlwind of activity. Having a goal galvanized people and kept their hands and minds busy. Anyone injured in the fighting was taken to the infirmary. Mira whipped up meals that could be eaten on the road. The away teams trickled in over the course of the day, except for Team Ceartas. They had indeed found the base, Makarov reported, and would stay to scout until the main force arrived.

Finally, everything was ready. A few people stayed back to care for the injured. Both the caregivers and the patients had been cowed into fearful silence by Porlyusica, who had come after Makarov had personally paid her a visit. She was more sharp tongued than ever, but the guild gave her a pass because of the tremble in her voice when she asked about Wendy. And because she'd brought something very similar to the potion Torin had given Lucy to counter the dart in Portico. They wouldn't be caught napping again. Everyone double checked their packs before setting out as a large group. Lucy smiled sadly back at the building before turning her face toward the road. _I'm coming, Natsu,_ she promised, _hold on for me just a little longer._

They were going to get their nakama back, and to hell with anyone standing in their way.

* * *

She watched them go from the window, frustrated tears running down her cheeks. How ironic that the ankle she'd deliberately sprained to keep Natsu with her longer stopped her from going to rescue him now. Although healed by Wendy, it had still been weak enough to snap during the fight. Now she was stuck here in a cast, watching everyone else go after the man she loved.

She zeroed in on a blonde head in the middle of the pack. She saw Lucy look back at Fairy Tail briefly. Was it just her, or had the Summoner flashed Lisanna a malicious smile before continuing on? She ground her teeth. She never should have slept last night. She'd talked to Elfman, she knew Natsu had snuck out while her oaf of a brother supposedly kept watch. No one could protect Natsu like she could, she knew that.

Lisanna had been obsessing over it all day. His roar had woken the building, giving them at least a chance to fight back, to injure some of the incoming horde. So he'd been outside. And she'd seen that stupid blonde bitch run inside this morning from the back door. Lisanna cradled her head in her hands. She'd failed to keep watch, and Lucy had tricked Natsu into coming to her. Would he ever have been taken if not for being distracted by that temptress?

This was all Lucy's fault. And Lisanna would make her _pay._

* * *

 **Oh boy. Shit's going down. And just when we got a steamy reunion, too! But as we all know, it's too easy to just kiss and make up (or make out, whatever). But don't worry, friends, this story is rated M for a reason, and it's not for cussing.**

 **As usual, huge thanks to my amazing beta Lady Lutka! Everyone give her a pat on the back for making the steamy scene steamier!**

 **Author shoutouts this week go to mushi0131, x-benihime, and ShanaHollows! Excellent, creative authors that deserve to be followed!**

 **Thanks for reading, please drop me a review! I love talking to all the interesting people on this site! I will see you all next week.**


	9. Operation Rescue

**Welcome back everyone! Enjoy this week's chapter!**

* * *

Lucy pulled a stick out of her hair, grumbling. When this was all over, she would never sleep in the woods again. She pushed down the ever present sick feeling in her gut. _It will all be over. Everything will be fine. You'll get Natsu back…_ She rolled up her sleeping bag a little bit faster and shoved it in her pack with more force than necessary. Dawn was breaking, and tonight would be the Blood Moon. She fought down a restless, agitated feeling as she stood. Reaching out for an enamel mug, her magic sparked against her fingertips, knocking it over and spilling the last dregs of her morning brew. Lucy shook her hand, taking a step back. She had to get control over her emotions! She hadn't known her magic to ever be so wild. She turned back to packing, mulling over the day ahead.

It had been a trying three days of marching. The fortress was hidden in the forest, the largest path barely a cart's width wide. With their numbers it was faster to walk than try to hire an army's worth of rickshaws. Fairy Tail had been grim, tamping down their usual gregarious nature and turning it into speed and endurance. No one wanted to slow up the rescue mission.

Happy and Carla had been nearly inconsolable. They had wanted to fly ahead themselves, to hell with the humans stuck on two legs, but Pantherlily had convinced them to stay with the group. 'No one doubts your love, and I want to rescue Gajeel as much as you do Natsu and Wendy,' he had said firmly, 'but flying into danger and being captured will only hurt them. They'll use you as a bargaining chip to get the Slayers to do what they want. Help them by scouting for the main group instead.'

Since then, Happy had stuck to Lucy like glue. Surprisingly, Carla had also stayed close. Usually Happy would be over the moon about it, but he was too upset about Natsu. So the two kittens rode on Lucy's shoulders or pack in between scouting trips. At night she would find them both curled up in her sleeping bag. As guilty as she felt about the kidnapping, she found herself wanting to spoil them and at the same time push them away. If she had been able to control her emotions, maybe she or Natsu would have been alert enough to recognize the danger before it was literally on top of them.

She'd broken down on night two and told them, along with Pantherlily and Levy, about the events just before the attack. To her surprise no one had blamed her for anything.

'I do not think your kissing Natsu helped the attack in any way,' Pantherlily had reasoned. 'They bypassed all our guards and took their captives even with Natsu's warning.'

Carla, Lucy's biggest fear, nodded. 'Yes. As much as I would like to lash out and blame those around me, I could not save Wendy either. We must focus on helping her now.'

'It's not your fault, Lu-chan,' Levy had soothed. 'I would've done the same thing… hypothetically, of course! Definitely not with Gaj一um, anyone. But I've read that telling someone all about it makes people feel better. So why not give me the details of this make out session while we walk? I think we could both use the distraction!'

Happy had looked the happiest she'd seen him since Natsu was taken. 'You _llllike_ him!' Though it had been hard, Lucy had done the mature thing and not murdered the cat, generously attributing his annoying giggles to his distraught state at his father figure's kidnapping.

Shaking her head, she zipped up her pack. The talk with her friends had helped relieve her guilt and strengthen her resolve even further. She and Natsu still had to have that talk, once they had rescued the Slayers and the threat of the UnderLords was no longer .

A shout sounded at the edge of the camp, and Lucy's head whipped around as Team Ceartas stumbled in. They were helped to the center, where Mira was dishing out breakfast and wrapped lunches.

All three of them looked like hell. Bruises and scrapes littered their bodies, and Lona had a bandage wrapped around her head. Lucy rushed over, pushing her way through the crowd. All three of them were strong mages, and she didn't want to think about what could have happened for them to be beaten this badly.

"... when we saw them come through yesterday with the Slayers, we followed them hoping they would stop to rest. When that didn't work, we attacked," Rai hung her head. "There were too many of them and they were readily armed for an assault. They have several strong mages that slowed us up as the rest kept moving. But we injured the mages at least as badly as we were hurt, and I know some of our wide range attacks harmed a big portion of the main group. Hopefully that will blunt some of their defensive ability."

The Master nodded, stepping aside for Mira and several others to carry over food and medical supplies for the battered group. "We know we injured many of their people as well in the initial attack," he mused, "and from the size of the group you ran into, they must have remained behind or gone to another location. While that means we won't have as many opponents in the fortress, it also tells me that the enemy has fighters to spare. Luckily," he raised his finger and thumb to the sky, "Fairy Tail doesn't care how many they have! We have the main strength of our guild here, and we will take our own back!"

The guild cheered, turning back to the task of breaking camp. Lucy stayed where she was, as did Mira. Once the group was bustling around them once more, Makarov's face grew grim. "Have you been able to get close to the fortress itself?"

"Only at night," Lona responded, "and it's been heavily guarded. Malleolus himself is definitely there, which means his strongest mages are as well. From what little we know he travels with a pack of them 一 at least ten that he probably didn't send on the mission, and at least a couple hundred non-mages, all well trained."

Torin jumped in, "The fortress itself is well built. We tried to climb a few trees to get a look inside, but none are close enough to get over the wall. One thick outer wall made of stone, with one pair of doors. There's a large courtyard inside and small buildings around the inner edges of the walls. There's a castle in the middle of the yard. It's built… weirdly."

Master leaned forward. "How so?"

"It's got a radial symmetry," Rai took up the tale, "everything is built around one center tower. It's got a line through the center of the roof and we think it might open up to the sky. So we're guessing that the lacrima is in there and when the Blood Moon passes overhead they'll do the ceremony."

"When will the moon pass over the tower?"

Lona answered. Lucy noted with some surprise that her eyes seemed to be glowing slightly, even though she wasn't using power. "From what I can tell, it'll pass over the lacrima right at midnight," the moon mage told them. "It would be best if we can get to it before then. I can't tell you what will happen when they start. But you should know some of the effects of the Blood Moon. Can you gather everyone back?"

It was the work of a moment to have everyone back in the center, which given the nature of Fairy Tail, told everyone how grave the situation was. Lona stood, balancing on a tree stump to be able to look over the crowd.

"The Blood Moon is known widely to increase the power of dark spells, but that's not all. The Blood Moon calls to that which is wild and fearless. Oftentimes we align that with darkness, but it doesn't have to be that way. Some of you may have already felt a restlessness in you, like your power doesn't want to sit still. It's heightened especially by emotions 一 so we'll all be more open to its influence than usual."

Lucy looked down at her fingers, remembering the spark that escaped her that morning.

"The Blood Moon can amplify your ability if you tap into its wildness. But if you do so without understanding your limits, you can be caught up in its power and 'wake up,' so to speak, to find that you've hurt someone you love. Or you overextend and don't wake up at all," she looked around at the assembled mages. "Don't lose your sense of self tonight. Remember that we are Fairy Tail and that we're here to protect our friends."

She jumped down from the log and the Master stepped onto it. It put him almost eye level with Levy, and he harrumphed before addressing the guild. "Pay attention to that, brats. I don't want to lose any of my children to some rock in the sky," behind him, Lona looked both touched at his sentiment and deeply offended at his description of the moon. "We should reach the fortress by nightfall. That means we'll have only a few hours to get our people and destroy the lacrima. Based on Team Ceartas' reconnaissance, we're going with a full frontal assault. But Fairy Tail never did subtle very well, then, did we?"

He got an answering roar in response, and grinned fiercely back. "Then let's go get our family!"

* * *

Natsu leaned his head back against the cold stone wall, ignoring its dampness. He smiled tiredly at Wendy, who was curled into his side, absorbing what little warmth he could retain without his fire. Gajeel shifted restlessly in his corner as Laxus sat nearest the door, watching it stonily, a sanctified vigil. They were in a dungeon, in a hallway full of cells. Three sides of the dank little room were made of dark slabs of stone, and a fourth wall of slatted iron, allowing them to see down the hall a little ways in each direction.

Normally, this wouldn't have presented a problem. Gajeel would have eaten the manacles and the bars, and they would have blasted their way out in a blaze of Dragon Slayer glory. Except that Gajeel had been chained as far away from the bars and the rest of them as possible, and the manacles weren't manacles, but thick rope, weatherbeaten and tarred until it held firm as any metal. And normally Natsu would have burned it to a crisp, but each had been fitted with a collar that muffled any attempt at magic. The collars were made of a metal with a blue sheen and fit closely around each neck. Even if he had been able to get past the revulsion of Gajeel necking him, the Iron Slayer couldn't reach anyone else to bite them off. Yes indeed, Natsu thought, they were well and truly trapped. Master had been right when he'd warned not to underestimate their enemies.

After the fight, Natsu had woken up in a wagon, bound and collared. Not that his captors needed any of that, the transportation was quite enough to keep all three of the men down for the count. With Wendy they'd just slathered more of that damn salve on, keeping her asleep for most of the trip. They'd been moved into individual rickshaws once they hit the forest, but the transfer had been so quick the Slayers were unable to regain their strength to fight. The carts had never stopped moving for more than a minute; apparently 'rest' wasn't in these people's vocabulary.

Well, that wasn't accurate. His had stopped once, and Natsu had recovered enough to hear voices shouting and see explosions of magical power. His heart (and stomach) had lept. Was Fairy Tail here? But the rickshaw started moving again just as he'd mustered the ability to raise his head, and Natsu moaned in both nausea and despair as it had bounced down the road at a sprint.

By the time they got to this place, wherever they were, the mages were too sick and dehydrated to fight back as they were bound to the wall in this cell. But that wasn't the worst part. Not the roughness of their handlers, or the 一ugh一transportation, or the indignity of having to eat off the floor and share a bucket for waste. The worst thing that had happened so far took place immediately after being placed in the cell. People dressed head to toe in robes (seriously, why did everyone here insist on hiding their faces?) had entered holding odd little spheres of crystal.

Natsu was still too sick to realize what was going on, but he and the others had heard Wendy's exclamation of horror, and had tried to fight, weak as they were. It hadn't done any good.

His head had been forced back, exposing his neck and its collar. The sphere had been placed against his mouth, smushed into his face however he fought. He ground his teeth, keeping it out. The mage holding the sphere in place had pulled out a small, wicked looking knife and nicked his cheek with it. They'd swiped their fingers across the blood and wiped it onto the sphere.

His magic had crackled inside him then, flaring to life in a way he hadn't felt for days. But instead of flying to his fingertips and roasting these bastards to a crisp, it had funneled up his throat. His mouth opened of its own volition and his magic, _his magic,_ was pulled away from him, soaked up by the crystal.

They'd repeated the process several times with new balls of lacrima, and he'd had the terrifying realization that he was being used to power magic batteries, as it were. When he'd barely a spark left, they'd stopped, dropped him on the floor, and left without a word. Blearily raising his head, the others had been in a similar state.

While the first round of magic draining had been horrific, the Slayers were able to recover. The last twenty four hours had allowed them to refuel on the food tossed into their cell and their magic levels to rise once more. But given what they knew about the Blood Moon and the Underlord's plans, Natsu had the sinking feeling that next time there wouldn't be a recovery.

As he looked at the food they'd been given, his heart sank as he recognized that everything was thought to help raise magic levels. Their captors clearly didn't give a shit about their physical well being, but obviously cared about their magical potential.

His dark thoughts were interrupted by footsteps making their way down the hall. All the Slayers shifted, leaning toward the door slightly, scenting the air. Any piece of information could be useful.

The steps were confident, quick but not hurried. A large figure came into view, striding down the hall. Behind him came the patter of more steps, these less sure of themselves and sounding more rushed. The man stopped outside the cell wall, scrutinizing them. Natsu felt the weight of his regard. He stood nearly as tall as Laxus and Gajeel, with dark hair streaked with silver falling to his jaw. His face was clean shaven, leaving a hooked nose, firm mouth, and square jaw on display. A scar ran down the side of his face, partially hidden by his hair. But his most arresting feature were his eyes. A bright, piercing green, they were beautiful (and Natsu did not consider himself someone who gazed into other men's eyes).

Those eyes flicked to each Slayer individually, assessing. Probing. They weighed him down, saw through him, and seemed to divine all of his secrets. Natsu realized that this had to be the head of the Underlords, the one Lucy had been hunting, the man who wanted to tear his magic out by the roots: Domme Malleolus.

Determined not to fold under the weight of his stare, Natsu glared back defiantly. He could sense his family around him doing the same. Malleolus broke into a wide smile at the defiance. His eyes flickered for a moment, some emotion Natsu couldn't place in their depths.

"So," his voice was deep, rich. "These are the mages that will make me strong."

He received four ferocious growls in return. He threw back his head and laughed, before gesturing to one side. Natsu blinked, noticing for the first time the people gathered around the leader. A guard, who was now unlocking the cell, and several more of the tall, hooded figures in robes. Part of him wanted to press himself into the floor and hide until they were gone. He ignored that part, glaring at them.

The door to their cage swung open, and Malleolus stepped inside. The guard attempted to follow him, but he stopped the man with a cold stare; "I don't believe our friends here will attack me. You may all leave me."

One of the hooded figures stepped forward. "My lord," the voice was light, feminine, but had a sibilant character to it that made Natsu's skin crawl. "These Slayers are not to be trusted. They are little more than animal and thus we cannot calculate what they will do. Your safety is paramount."

Malleolus whirled around, rage splitting his features into something feral. "I said to LEAVE ME!" he stepped forward, hands curled into fists. The guard stumbled backward, bowing, but the three people in hoods only stood tall for a moment before turning and gliding away. Malleolus panted heavily for a moment before regaining his composure. He turned to them.

"So, now that the rats are out of the way, I'm sure you have questions. Please do not hesitate to ask." He spread his hands genially.

The room was silent for a moment, before Wendy asked in a small, yet firm, voice, "Why are you doing this?"

The most powerful lord of the underworld looked down at the little Slayer, before swiftly crouching and leaning into her space, causing her to flinch back against Natsu. All three of the men snarled, surging forward against their confines. Damn the chains, damn the guards, Wendy was a little sister to all of them, and they would protect her to their last breath.

Malleolus jerked away out of their reach, laughing. "Why? Why? You saw the vultures behind me! They watch my every move, they seek to control me! Me! Who built the Underlords from nothing, to the greatest empire this land has known! The governments tell you that I am a monster, a criminal, but without me there would be chaos! How many would die in the struggle for power? They should hail me in the streets as a hero! And these mages whom I found and cultivated, whose research I funded and power I encouraged, they think that they will do better?"

Malleolus paused, looking through each Slayer like they didn't exist, his tirade solely for an intangible audience. "No. I will become the strongest, I will stop these sniveling backstabbers, and when I have imposed order within my own ranks once more I will finally be able to come out of the shadows. Your governments will fall, your Rune Knights done. I will reshape the world with myself at the helm! When I am done, I will be seen not as shadowy criminal, but a conquering hero! People will revere me as a God for what I've done for them!"

His eyes were fever bright as he ranted and Natsu recognized the expression on the Lord's face: madness. This man could still command attention and respect, he had built the largest criminal assemblage on the continent, but somewhere on his rise to power insanity had infected his mind so that he now believed in his own heroism. Maybe he always did. Maybe his mages had never really turned against him, or maybe they'd recognized the Messianic madness and knew that it spelled their end. Did it really matter? Either way Natsu and the others would be fed to a spell in just a few hours to fuel the dreams of this madman.

Laxus pulled on his chains. "You think this will work? The magic will burn you out! You'll die before you can take over anything," he roared.

Malleolus leaned down toward Laxus, just out of his reach. "You think I haven't thought of that? Planned for it?"

"If you used those mages you're so scared of to build the thing, then you don't know it's safe," Gajeel grunted from his corner. "Doubt you know enough magical theory to make it yourself."

Their captor's eyes widened maniacally. "Do you think someone strong enough to build an empire wouldn't think of that? The machine works, I've tested it!"

Wendy gasped, "You pulled out someone's core? You killed them!" all signs of fear were overridden by anger. The little Slayer lunged at the Underlord, trying to kick at him. "You're a monster! A monster!"

Malleolus' eyes turned dark, a shadow masking them. He lunged at Wendy, but Natsu was faster. He yanked on Wendy's chain, pulling her behind him and putting his body in between her and the madman. He stood, slightly hunched from the shortness of the ropes, but met Malleolus' wild glare with one of his own. He could hear the low snarls of the other two as they pulled at their bonds.

After a tense moment, Malleolus seemed to collect himself. He straightened, smoothed his hair, fixed his collar. He turned and walked to the door. Stepping out into the corridor, he glanced over his shoulder, imperial facade back in place. "You may believe me a monster, but in the end history will sing my praises. I will make sure the masses know your magic helped create their new world. After all, after tonight we will all be one, in a way."

He strode off down the corridor, leaving the Slayers frozen. Natsu held Wendy to his side. He may not be able to use his magic, but he could offer some warmth and comfort since they'd been chained so close together.

Barely a minute after Malleolus had left, guards rushed into the cell. Hampered as they were, none of the Fairy Tail mages were able to do much as they were rebound and dragged from the cell, although several guards were left inside, unconscious, as they were carried away. Natsu couldn't help but smile at Wendy, who'd roundhouse kicked two of them into the wall.

His smile faded, however, when they were brought to a wide, circular room that seemed to stretch upwards forever, the ceiling lost to shadows. In the center of the space was a raised dais, and on it sat a machine made entirely from magic absorbing lacrima. A throne sat in the center, tubes and gears and panels rising up around it to form a vaguely spherical shape. Several ropes stretched from inside the machine, reaching over to the edge. Natsu usually didn't get cold, but he felt a chill run down his spine as he realized that the ropes were thousands of lacrima filaments wound together, and that at the end of each 'rope' was a slab and straps designed to hold someone down.

Natsu fought wildly as he was pulled over to his slab, but bound as he was he really only managed a furious wiggle. Still, it took six men to strap him down. He spared a triumphant thought that they only used five on Gajeel. And then a jealous one for Laxus and his eight handlers.

Once all the Dragon Slayers were secure, the guards left. A few remained behind with two of the hooded mages. There was silence. Until Natsu broke it. "Well? You freaks gonna start this ceremony or what?!"

One figure stepped forward, that same chilling voice from earlier sliding over him. "It is not yet time, Sacrifice. Be patient a little longer."

Natsu huffed, pulling at his bonds. Then stopped, and made a show of collapsing back onto the table as if he'd given up. But very carefully, he pulled his left arm toward him, applying a constant pressure. There was a tiny tear in the leather and he'd felt it give, just a hair. If he could get his hand free… well, he didn't have a plan beyond that. But he was Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail! If anyone could destroy a fancy piece of equipment without a plan, it was definitely him.

* * *

Lucy took a deep breath. This was it. Nightfall had crept across the land, and the first stars twinkled proudly in the sky, and she took it as an encouragement from the Divines. The walls of the fortress rose overhead. Fairy Tail had crept through the last mile of undergrowth, taking out advance guards with the help of their own winged scouting party. Now they hid amongst the last line of trees before the door. Magic from her guild, her family, electrified the air. Lucy could feel hers prickling under her skin, thrumming at her fingertips. The wildness of the Blood Moon was upon them. She stood with Team Ceartas on one side, battered but ready, and Gray and Erza on the other. Having both of her teams there, here with her to rescue her partner and the others, gave her hope.

The Master strode out into the front ranks, then broke the treeline. Growing to his giant size, he bellowed to the wall, " _Come out, come out, UnderLords! We are Fairy Tail, and we're here for our own_!"

The guild roared in response, flooding out of the trees and across the ground. Lucy screamed too, running full speed at the gate. Movement in her peripheral vision caught her eye, and she turned her head to see more of those black clad figures 一 lots more 一 running at them from around the sides of the walls. It was a classic pincer movement, and they had only moments until they were trapped against the wall, upon which more Underlords were appearing. She grabbed Lona by the arm, dragging her to a halt as the rest of Fairy Tail charged forward, heedless of the danger.

"Lona! We have to do something!" she pointed wildly at the two groups converging on them.

Lona's eyes swirled an amethyst storm.. "You take this half, I'll take that half!" she yelled, turning to place her back firmly to Lucy. She turned back to shout in her ear, "Tap into the Moon!"

Lucy gulped, but there was no time to dither or hesitate. The moon was a Celestial object, so surely it should be easier for her of all people to give in to that wildness, right? And later, to control it? The Summoner closed her eyes and dipped into her magical center, and then gave herself to the wildness that had been calling to her all evening, a willing tribute. Opening her eyes and extending her arms to the oncoming horde, she began to chant:

 _Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens..._

 _All the stars, far and wide..._

 _Show me thy appearance..._

 _With such shine._

 _Oh Tetrabiblos..._

 _I am the ruler of the stars..._

 _Aspect become complete..._

 _Open thy malevolent gate._

 _Oh 88 Stars of the heaven..._

 _Shine!_

 _ **Urano Metria!**_

As she spoke she was dimly aware of Lona reciting her own spell in a language Lucy did not recognise. They both yelled the final incantation at the same time, throwing their arms high. Just as the black clad ninjas reached their friends, judgement day rained from the sky.

On Lucy's side, glowing planets and asteroids tore through the air, blasting enemies with the power of the Heavenly Divines. On Lona's slightly smaller, but no less devastating front, purple orbs slammed down and exploded with so much force Lucy could see the shockwaves. Huh. Must be the asteroid field spell she'd mentioned.

Usually after Urano Metria Lucy felt drained, but the Blood Moon's power rushing through her not only kept her upright, but seemed to power her up. She jumped on the balls of her feet, barely noticing the golden radiance she was giving off. She moved to run back into the fray, but Lona grabbed her arm. She glowed her own beautiful amethyst, and her lips were drawn back in a ferocious smile that Lucy was sure she mirrored.

"Lucy! Just remember," the smile turned into a grimace, "don't let the Moon take over!"

Lucy pulled the other girl into a swift hug. "Thank you. But I have to go save someone I love, now. To hell with the consequences."

And with that, she turned away and started sprinting toward the gate.

* * *

 **Hurray, another week down! A little on the short side, but next week is the entirety of the fight scene between the Underlords and Fairy Tail. Mad action the whole chapter!**

 **I did have to put in Urano Metria, though. I've been waiting to use that Lucy-Lona back to back power move the whole story. Lona, by the way, is using her Asteroid Field spell. It's her biggest power move against multiple opponents and is exactly what it sounds like: a rain of exploding asteroids from the sky. It was also exciting to finally introduce Malleolus!**

 **As usual, a huge thank you to my wonderful beta, Lady Lutka!**

 **Author shoutouts this week! Freyjabee writes multiple pairings, all very well. If you like darker themes, this author is for you.**

 **Rivendell101 has several stories that I am really enjoying, and if you haven't checked them out you absolutely should. Berserk is in the process of being rewritten, but has a great storyline that really does remind me of the rhythm of an ancient tale.**

 **AbsentAngel has written a whopping 34 stories! Ignite is definitely one of my favorites.**

 **Drop me a review! I'll see you all next week!**


	10. The UnderLords vs The Under Dogs

**Hi guys! Welcome back! I have to apologize to all you wonderful reviewers: I'm sorry I didn't respond to anyone this week. It was stupid busy with lots of wedding stress, and it's amazing that this chapter is out on time at all, short though it is. A big round of applause to my wonderfully supportive beta, Lady Lutka.**

 **I can't imagine the wedding stress lessening anytime soon, so the chapters might be shorter than they have been. But the upside to that is they'll still be on time, and hey, more chapters! I promise I'll answer any reviews asap this week. :)**

 **PS: You know how in major fight scenes in action movies the camera does one long shot that swings from character to character? That's how I picture the courtyard scene. Enjoy!**

* * *

Natsu opened his eyes as he heard Malleolus' confident footsteps stride across the room once more, echoing obnoxiously in the large space. He didn't turn his head, feigning indifference. In reality, his heart jackhammered and he forced himself to breathe evenly. He maintained the pressure on his wrist strap. Over the last hour or so they'd been strapped down, he thought he'd gotten through about half of it. He didn't know what he'd do when he finally got through, but anything was better than passively accepting his fate.

Malleolus' face appeared over him. The madman was smiling, and he cradled Natsu's head in his hands. "Thank you for your sacrifice, Slayer," he crooned. "When I rule, the world shall know your name."

Natsu turned his head and snapped at his fingers, lips raised in a snarl more befitting a beast than a man. Malleolus jumped away, laughing. "I like your spirit! It will propel the Underlords to new heights!"

He walked around the room, thanking each Slayer, seeming unaffected by their curses and thrashing. Natsu pulled at his strap. If he could just get free…

He heard Malleolus ascend the steps. "I'm sure you got to see my machine when you came in, my friends," he proclaimed. "The lacrima filaments will siphon your powers and send them into the sphere. Once inside, we've created a delicate balance of mirrors and generators to increase the power tenfold before it channels into me. I shall be more than all of you put together! A true dragon."

Two mages appeared over him, one holding the rope of lacrima. This close, he could see that the filaments ended in little fishhooks. He tried to struggle, but the straps holding him down were firm. He snarled as the hooks pierced into his chest, blood welling up around them. Once they were secure, one mage retreated while the other stayed next to him. A grinding sound brought his eyes to the ceiling. It was retracting, splitting down the middle.

A red light washed over the room, so that it seemed to be bathed in blood. Directly over the tower hung the moon, huge and a deep, rusty red. As its light hit, Natsu felt something pull inside of him, like the tug of his hottest flames. It made him want to scream, to run through the woods, to hunt. His magic struggled to break free of the collar. He groaned, throwing his head back onto the table with a thud and arching his back as much as he was humanly able.

"Yes!" cried Malleolus from the depths of the machine. "Now!"

The mage pulled Natsu's collar off and at the same time, the machine was activated.

His power roared to life, screaming down his veins to burst out of his skin. It was a moment of pure, primal joy. And the next instant, every bit of it, every single spark was ripped away and he howled in agony. The memory thief's magic had been nothing to this. The hooks in his skin grabbed that first wash of power and latched onto it, pulling the rest of it out of him and sucking it away.

It felt like a thousand fire ants biting every inch of his skin, like white hot needles being plunged into him, like Gray's magic had turned him inside out. He was an ocean without water, a forest devoid of life. Natsu felt every scrap of magic leave him, ripped away from his very soul. All his muscles tensed as he strained to keep some of it, any of it. And as he was drained down to the very dregs, salvation arrived.

His wrist strap broke.

Driven mad with pain, Natsu didn't think. He just reached over his head and grabbed the tube, yanking it forward. He heard a thunk and a smashing sound from inside the machine. For a second nothing happened, then the terrible flow of power slowed and stopped. Several more popping noises sounded from above him. The machine let out a terrible grinding sound.

And then it exploded, and everything went white.

* * *

Lucy pounded toward the gate, dodging magical blasts from the gang members on the ramparts. Pulling out Sagittarius' key, she called him to her side and cloaked herself in his Stardress. She skidded to a halt and together they took aim, raining a hail of magical arrows upon the enemy forces. It brought relief to the beleaguered mages on the ground, and Erza used the reprieve to their advantage.

She requipped into her Piercing Armor, the massive joust pointed toward the heart of the fortress. She took a moment to correct her hold, then let out a war cry and sprinted toward the gates. Her cry rang out over the battlefield and everyone got the hell out of her way.

Erza thundered down the center of the chaos, impacting the door with an explosion of splintered wood. The large gates gave way before her and she rocketed into the courtyard, barely slowed. Between one step and the next she'd requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor, and began laying waste to the seemingly endless numbers of black clad-ninjas pouring out of the fortress.

Without missing a beat, Fairy Tail crowded in behind her and the battle had truly begun.

Lucy jumped from Stardress to Stardress, her weeks of training paying off as she cut down Underlord members left and right. They had more of that ointment on their hands, but a draft of Porlyusica's potion left Lucy unaffected. After a few minutes she was able to sort out the chaos a bit. There seemed to be three types of enemies on the field.

First, the ninjas. They didn't seem to have any magical power, but their physical training and numbers could wear the rescuers down in time if they didn't knock them out fast enough. Next were what seemed to be lower level mages ー mercenary dark guilds, maybe? They didn't seem to be uniformed, and Lucy saw at least one magical weapon that appeared similar to the mini-Jupiter canon that she'd fought in Glissfield. Funny how long ago that seemed. It made her scars tingle, though. Lastly, there were figures in hooded red robes that appeared to be the elite mages of the Underlords. Thankfully there were comparatively fewer of them, but if anyone could slow up the rescue operation, Lucy had to bet it would be them.

She spun, blasting sand into her opponents' faces in a wide circle, buying her a moment to breathe. And that was how she noticed one of the figures light his hand on fire in an achingly familiar manner.

* * *

"Ice Make Hammer!" Gray swung at the leering face of his opponent, dodging the blast from his magical gun and swinging his weapon into the man's chin. It connected with a satisfying _clunk,_ and he collapsed onto the ground. For a moment he was unmolested, and Gray panted as he looked around for his next fight.

He had barely a moment's notice. He felt heat on his face and jerked away, years of fighting Natsu ingraining the instinct into him. Speaking of the flamebrain… he whipped around to find one of those red-robed bastards facing him, features covered. His hands were on fire, and as Gray watched he moulded another ball of flame and sent it flying his way.

Gray dodged again, nonplussed. This was Natsu's fire, he'd know it anywhere. "Natsu! Fireface! Hey, snap out of it!" he threw up a wall of ice as more flames came his way. Why was Natsu with the enemy? And why wasn't he responding to any of Gray's taunts?

Lucy burst into the fight, dressed in a cow print bikini and literally glowing. She body slammed the eerily quiet Natsu and ripped of his hood to reveal a man with green hair and beady eyes. Definitely _not_ Natsu. Gray's jaw dropped. What the hell?

"Gray! They can use his magic, remember? These bastards stole their magic to use against us!" Lucy yelled to him, before three mercenaries set on her and she was forced to turn her attention to her own fight.

The Ice-Make mage cracked his knuckles as he looked at the magic thief. So that's how it was, huh? Not that he would have gone easy on the Flamebrain anyway, but now the gloves were really off.

The red-robed man crouched in a defensive position, lighting his arms up. "You think you can defeat me? I have the magic of two mages running through my veins, now!"

A whip of fire, tightly controlled, snapped out at Gray, forcing him to parry and dodge. He snarled at the Underlord. "Two mages, huh? I guess that means I'll get to laugh doubly hard in Natsu's face about your defeat after we rescue him, then! Ice Make Floor!"

Gray slammed his hands down on the ground, creating an ice rink twenty feet across. He stalked over it, watching the false fire mage stumble and slip. "Clearly," he punched him in the face, "you don't know jack about _using_ the power you stole." He roundhouse kicked the man in the side, leaning to avoid the pathetic stream of fire that passed him. "Ash-for-brains is an idiot, but he wouldn't even let this slow him down!" a series of jabs to various nerve points. "I guess I won'tー" _kick_ _ー_ "be able toー" _punch_ _ー_ "laugh at him about this after all, becauseー" Gray made his hammer once more, and took aimー "you _ain't shit."_

He swung, connected, and watched the asshole who stole his friend's power go flying up and over the wall. He allowed his vicious satisfaction to carry him and his new hammer into the next group of flunkies. He knocked one flying, only to have him launched right back at him, courtesy of Torin and a cast iron skillet.

Torin grinned at Gray's face as he sent the ninja back at him. The Chef Mage whirled, catching a magic sword in the spokes of a whisk. He twisted his wrist, sending his opponent's weapon flying, before exquipping both whisk and pan and grabbing the mercenaries' breastplate. A second of concentration and heat bloomed across the metal. Torin let go to meet his next adversary, but once he heard the armor hit the ground as the man took it off in a panic, he requipped his favorite heavy ladle and laid the man out, barely sparing a glance away from his new fight. He rampaged through the crowd, waving at Erza as he went by. She gave him a regal nod before throwing a ninja into the wall thirty feet away.

Erza didn't watch the Underlord hit the wall ー she knew where he was going and she had other things to do. Like rescue Natsu, give him a hug, and then properly punish him for sneaking away from his guard. And then she would celebrate with a large strawberry shortcake. She strode forward, knocking opponents out of her way, to find her path blocked by one of the elite mages, robes and hood firmly in place.

She lifted her sword, pointing it at the figure. "Move, or I shall move you!"

The figure lifted their hands, and Erza tensed, but they simply lowered their hood, revealing a tall woman with a wicked smile. "You may try to move me, but how will you fare against your own guild's magic?" she cackled.

Wind whipped around her, tugging at her robes. Erza's face turned stony, and she shifted her position, balancing on the balls of her feet. "So you have stolen Wendy's magic, and now seek to use it against her family? You are the lowest of low. Someone who must resort to thievery is no match for the spirit of our nakama," she growled, requipping into her Adamantine armor, "but out of respect for Wendy, I shall not hold back!"

The mage narrowed her eyes, but suddenly looked a little less sure of her victory.

The entire battlefield paused a moment at the resounding explosion Erza created when she landed the finishing blow on her opponent. Rai took the opportunity to knock out a few more bad guys, then pushed her magic through her feet, turning her shoes into foot-tall stilts, taking her own peek at Erza. The other mage was bruised and her badass armor (Rai would have to talk to her and see if she could recreate that within her magic) had a crack running up it. Damn. Rai let go of her power, dropping back to the ground in time to meet a wave of ninjas.

Sighing, she let her chains grow out of her skin, whipping them at the first group and sending them flying. She'd had enough of fighting elite mages for one week after her battle in the woods. She'd go ahead and clear some of the ground cover for everyone else. And ー she shot one chain through a gap in the struggling bodies, forming a solid sphere at the end of it and slamming it directly into a mercenary's stomach ー she'd keep schmucks like that one away from her friends.

Mira turned around when she heard a loud wheeze, and found a mercenary doubled over, retching, with a morningstar flail retracting away from him and through the crowd. She sent Rai a thankful wave before delicately stepping around the man and making her way through the crowd, heading toward the fortress. Fighting was well and good, but her first concern was the Slayers trapped inside. Or it was, until one of those damn hooded mages popped up in front of her. He lowered his hood. The man was tall, with white hair that matched her own. His blue eyes were cruel.

"'fraid I can't let you get any closer, ma'am," he drawled, "would have to fry yah." He chuckled, sparking a lightning bolt that played between his fingers. Mira gasped. This bastard had Laxus' magic! Her eyes narrowed, focus pinpointing on the electricity in his hands. She pulled on her inner demon, allowing the Satan Soul transformation to wash over her.

"Let's go," she snarled. Never mind what she said earlier. This asshole was going down.

She jumped toward him, claws swiping, but he dodged and shot a bolt of lightening at her, which she narrowly avoided. Mira turned, moving toward him again and throwing a punch. He blocked, lightning running up her arm and shocking her. Mira gritted her teeth and ignored it. Anyone that spent time with Laxus got a few static shocks now and then. She was used to it.

They grappled, trading blows back and forth and blocking, the mage repeatedly electrocuting her every time she landed a hit. Mira panted heavily. This was not quite the same as a static shock, and she was getting tired, the electricity draining her. She shook it off. Maybe it was time to use it to her advantage. His next punch she took on the shoulder, deliberately allowing the lightning to roll over her. Instead of pushing his magic away, she gripped it and melded it into her own. She didn't know if the Blood Moon overhead was allowing her to do this, but it was easy, and the electricity running through her made her laugh. She balled it up, added it to her own sphere of darkness, and rolled it between her hands.

She grinned sadistically at the thief. "Electric Evil Explosion!" she roared, hurling the sphere directly into his face. The resulting detonation mirrored Erza's and left the man gibbering in a smoking crater. Mira let go of her transformation and smiled sweetly as she carried on her way. She looked over at Levy, frowning a moment. Should she go help her? Then she saw who the bookworm was fighting and backed off. That was personal.

Levy dodged the iron pole aimed at her stomach, rolling away. Frantically, she scripted a wall in front of her, using the moment it gave her to gasp for air. She was covered in little cuts and bruises, but had mostly avoided the imposter's blows. As excited as he was to be using Gajeel's magic, he clearly had not mastered it. His inexperience gave Levy hope in this fight, to be added to her determination to not be beaten by this iron magic. What would Gajeel do if he learned his magic had been used to hurt Levy again? She couldn't do that to him. So she had to win!

The false iron mage burst through her wall, laughing, drunk on his new, powerful magic. He was too cocksure to be worried about the little mage in the orange dress. So when he saw Levy on the ground trembling, he took a moment to pause and revel in his supremacy. He never saw the enormous _**IRON**_ take form above him and drop, crushing him to the ground. Levy stood up, a sneer worthy of Gajeel twisting her lips, and brushed the dirt off her knees. The irony of beating this faker with Gajeel's own element made her smile, and she walked away, leaving the giant word on the man without remorse.

Barely a moment later, Lona moved into the same space, trading punches and kicks with two mercenaries. One of them spotted the word, an admittedly odd thing to find on a battlefield, and faltered a moment. She took the opportunity to scramble his brain a bit, then kicked the other man in the jaw and used her gravity magic to help her throw both men up and over the wall.

Wiping her brow, she hid behind the iron a moment, ignoring the moaning mage under it. She closed her eyes and breathed in, tasting the moon on her tongue. The power was heady, and was augmenting her like she'd never dreamed. But it could be dangerous. She couldn't allow it to take over, and had stuck to fighting the ninjas and mercenaries lest it overtake her after she'd let it in earlier. She hoped Lucy was doing ok. Steadying herself, she darted back out from the shadow of the iron and lightened her gravity.

"Happy! Give me a ride!" she called to the small blue cat overhead.

Happy swooped down and hoisted up his glowing companion. Together they soared over the courtyard, Lona dropping mini-asteroids on people as they went. Happy dropped her off next to Rai, where the two of them started to unleash their special brand of hell on a group of mercenaries.

Happy swooped back up, flying high over the battleground once more. He'd been circling around the castle for the last half hour, looking for a way in with Carla. So far, nothing. Every door was guarded, every window sealed. And every moment, the Blood Moon crept closer to the tower. It was right on top of it!

Happy heard a creaking, grinding noise. He banked back around, mouth falling open when he saw the top of the tower sliding back. This was his in! He was diving towards the opening when a column of light blasted its way up out of the turret. Happy barely avoided it. He was forced to land on the roof of another part of the castle, desperately trying to blink sunspots out of his eyes. What was going on? And where was Natsu?

Lucy was so close. She'd forced her way in nearly a straight line across the courtyard and had finally made it to the door, guarded by two of the red cloaked mages. She'd beaten one and was engaged with the second when the light blasted its way toward the sky.

Her heart in her throat, she screamed, blasting the second mage point blank with a globe of light and running over their body, kicking open the door and sprinting down the hall. Were they too late?

* * *

Natsu shook his head, hard, and the ringing in his ears decreased a little. The blast had thrown them all into the walls. He shifted some lacrima off of him, and staggered upright, stepping forward into the moonlight.

The first thing he noticed was how much _better_ he felt. His magic was back, rushing through his veins, filling him to the brim. He revelled in it for a moment, stretching his arms out, enjoying how the scales glinted in the light… wait.

He brought his hands up to his face. Their backs sported ruby red scales that trailed up his forearms. Taking stock of the rest of himself, he had scales around the sides of his face and trailing down his back onto his neck. His chest was mostly unaffected, save for the small rivulets of blood running down it from where the hooks had pierced him. His magic flared and his already impressive senses seemed to sharpen even further. Somehow, the backfiring of the machine had knocked him into Dragon Force. Stepping further into the room, Natsu saw his fellow Slayers were all shifting debris off themselves, also covered in scales. He could practically taste their magic, heady and almost feral. It stirred the beast in his blood.

They met in the center of the room, over the blackened blast site where the power-sucking lacrima had stood. Wendy lifted her hands, admiring the sapphire scales glimmering down her arms. Her hair, in contrast, had turned a shimmering violet. "Why did weー" she started, but a rumbling from the back of the room stopped her.

The largest pile of rubble was moving, falling away from a hunched form. Domme Malleolus straightened, staggering into a beam of bloody moonlight. He raised his head. His crazed eyes were the same, but that was it. He was covered completely in green scales, fingers ending in wicked claws. Thick horns curled above his head, and a tail whipped back and forth, dislodging more dust. As the Slayers watched, horrified, a large pair of powerful wings opened up behind him.

The increased power provided by the mirrors within the lacrima had given them all Dragon Force. But Malleolus, at the center of the blast, was now far more dangerous. He had gotten his wish. He was a dragon.

There was a moment of horrified silence, and then the newly minted dragon turned to them. He let out a rasping laugh. "Oh, I was right to want this power. I think I'll test it," he unfurled his wings, "by cutting you four down!"

He launched himself at them with incredible speed. The four threw themselves out of the way, spreading out to make it harder to choose a target. Malleolus banked using his wings, orienting on Gajeel. He threw himself at the Iron Dragon Slayer, who met him head on. Still getting used to his new body, the Green Dragon was thrown back by the Slayer, only to be met by a thundering lightning bolt from Laxus. Not to be outdone, Natsu and Wendy sent a fireball super-charged by a small but no less ravenous tornado.

When the dust cleared, there was nothing there. Natsu narrowed his eyes, and barely had time to react before a scaled fist disturbed the air by his ear, impossibly fast. He rolled away, his own fiery fists raised, just in time to block another fist. It seemed Malleolus had gotten used to his new limits faster than they had hoped. Natsu could barely keep up with the flurry of blows. Then an iron fist slammed into Malleolus' cheek, giving him a moment to recover. Wendy blasted him with a Dragon Force Wind Roar, pushing him further away.

Malleolus' thick tail whipped out, wrapping around a support beam. His claws gouged into the floor, pulling himself forward. Wendy's roar began to wane, and Malleolus crawled faster. Laxus stepped in, cloaked in lightning, just before the mad drake reached his sister Slayer. His lightning crackled down, hitting the dragon square in the back. He writhed for a moment, before the electricity seemed to focus itself around his eyes. And then a glowing green jet sent Laxus flying backwards into a wall, leaving a Laxus-shaped indent.

Gajeel broke the shocked silence. "Oh, _shit."_

The Slayers were forced onto the defensive, dodging blasts of sickly green light and more mundane, but no less deadly, punches and kicks. Malleolus seemed to be gaining more and more power, and Natsu realized that he was absorbing their attacks. Well, it made sense. He'd gotten these powers from them, and his magic was theirs, whatever his freaky eye lasers might look like.

A line Laxus had yelled in anger at the dragon niggled at Natsu as he dodged yet another blast with his own enhanced reflexes. " _You can't take in all that power. It'll burn you up!"_ He narrowed his eyes at their enemy. His motions did seem a little jerkier after that last tornado he'd soaked up from Wendy. Maybe…?

"Guys!" he shouted. "Hit him all at once, with everything! We've gotta overload him!"

The others shouted affirmatives. (Well, Wendy did. Gajeel and Laxus flipped him off, but he knew it was just because they hadn't thought of it.) Everyone dodged and rolled back, leaving Malleolus in the center of the room. Before he could choose a Slayer to attack, each of them called up their Dragon Roar and let loose with every speck of power they had.

Malleolus was battered from every side, the Roars unceasing. He started to twitch, then fell to his knees. But to Natsu's horror, he kept absorbing their power, even as the Slayers' attacks began to weaken. Then the door to the circular room burst open, and a fifth stream of power joined theirs.

Malleolus screamed at the addition. This was not a power he had stolen, and the distraction was enough to break his focus on safely absorbing the massive amounts of energy flowing into him. The new magic flowed into his veins along with the dragon magic, finally overloading him.

The Fairy Tail wizards ceased their attacks, watching as Malleolus staggered to his feet. "You can't… this shouldn't… " the madman cried, grabbing onto his horns and pulling, as though in great pain. "How can this… Arrrrgh!" he screamed to the sky, throwing his head back and unleashing a burst of light from his eyes and mouth toward the moon.

The Slayers watched as Malleolus' stolen power fled from him. A bright green glow shone from the cracks in his scales over his chest. Its light forced Natsu to shield his eyes. Finally, with a last strangled scream, the power completely overtook Malleolus and he burst into emerald flames. They were quick to die down, leaving a pile of ash on the floor where he had been.

Natsu stared at the remains for a moment, before looking across the wide expanse of the room toward the doors at their savior. There she was, silky hair a tangled mess, clothes in tatters, porcelain skin starlit and positively glowing a rich gold, entire galaxies swirling in her gaze as she locked frantic eyes with him.

"Lucy?"

* * *

 **And there we are! UnderLords vanquished and Malleolus turned to ash by the very power he coveted! Which means it's time to let you all in on a little secret: A malleolus is the medical term for that protruding bone on the outside of your ankle. Malleolus, leader of the most feared gang in Fiore and Bosco, is named after a foot bone. But such a malevolent sounding one, I had to do it.**

 **Next week, the scene you've all been waiting for! Finally, an M rating for something other than heavy dark shit.**

 **Our weekly author shoutout goes to two writers this week! First is Riverofmemories, author of several excellent stories, including a couple dark ones that I really enjoyed. Next is RicardianScholar Clark-Weasley, whose 500+ chapter FT fanfic is excellent. Several longer stories are tied in throughout the oneshots, and a variety of pairings are covered (though mainly NaLu).**

 **As always, thank you for reading and I look forward to answering your reviews (which I promise will happen this week!).**


	11. The Meadow

**Welcome back everyone! Look, I posted before midnight! Amazing! A lil shorty of a chapter, but all of it is rated M. FINALLY. I suppose I won't keep you from the smut any longer. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Lucy?"

His voice was raspier than usual, and it sent a delicious shiver down her spine. As he moved out of the shadows from across the room, she saw that he was covered in ruby red scales and his eyes had turned a dark, molten gold. He was shirtless, nothing to keep her from seeing the way his muscles shifted as he stepped toward her.

 _KABOOM!_

Everyone's heads snapped around as Laxus blew a massive hole through the wall and the room behind it, exposing the back of the courtyard. "Who's ready to go KICK SOME ASS?" the lightning mage yelled, bolting into the courtyard. Wendy and Gajeel whooped, following him.

For a moment, Natsu almost did, too. The roar of bloodlust sang in his veins. Then Lucy moved, still glowing, and his head snapped back towards her. She was ethereal. A goddess. He couldn't help but go to her, and she to him.

Stepping out of the shadows, both of them moved into the moonlight. As the bloody beams hit them, infused with wild magic, the bloodlust spiked. Lucy's hands clenched. She could feel her sanity leaving her, wanting to dance with her magic. The dragon in front of her was perfect. He was everything she had ever wanted. What was it she wanted? She wanted to fight, she wanted to scream, she wanted to call seize every star in the sky. And she absolutely wanted Natsu.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep, steadying breath, and stepped back into the shadows. Away from the light, she was able to hold onto the smallest slip of sanity, if only for a moment. Lona had been right. The Moon was strong, and it wanted to bleed her dry. She had to get this energy out! Somehow without killing herself in the process. She opened her eyes, looking Natsu over. In her still dazed state, her mind snapped onto a solution. One she was eager to try, moon or no moon.

When she'd moved away, he'd stepped closer, an excitement flaring in his eyes. The desire of an apex predator. His tongue ran over one sharp fang.

Lucy smirked at him, then beckoned with one finger before turning sharply and sprinting toward the hole Laxus had so kindly made for them. _Catch me if you can._

Normally, it wouldn't even be a contest. But after two months of training, Lucy was faster and stronger, and the Blood Moon's power ran through her, impervious to exhaustion. Natsu, despite all his athletic prowess, wasn't quite at his peak after the last three days.

She had a chance, and she intended to use it.

So Lucy ran across the yard, calling Virgo's Stardress to her. She ploughed through the ground under the wall without hesitation, leaving the castle behind as she dashed to the woods. Glancing back, an exhilarated laugh escaped her as she saw Natsu ignoring the tunnel she'd helpfully left him, and rocketing over the wall with feet aflame. He hit the ground running just as she vanished into the woods.

Lucy let her power push her forward, her luminescence falling away as she ran, leaving a trail of slowly dimming footprints. She smiled fiercely as she became opaque once more. She didn't want to make this easy on her dragon. She ducked and weaved, doubling back to confuse the scent trails. She let go of her Stardresses, conserving her energy for running. She heard his shout from behind her. "You're not getting away this time, Princess!"

She gasped out a laugh. She had no plans whatsoever to escape. But he would have to catch her honestly, or where would the fun be?

She didn't know where she was leading them, but something drew her forward and kept her just ahead of him in the dark woods. And as the trees started to thin, she found what she sought.

* * *

The thrill of the chase pounded in his blood, pushing him on. When she'd smirked at him and beckoned, he'd known immediately the game she played. This was the final step in the dance they'd been doing for the last two months. He'd given her a seconds head start, but soon regretted it as he fought to keep up. He was at less than his peak, and she had grown.

Well. He wouldn't let it keep him from finding her, catching her, and finishing their dance. A feral smile split his lips. Still in Dragon Force, he didn't need the glowing footprints to follow her trail. Stopping for a brief second, he threw his head back and breathed in, mouth open, the better to taste her scent. His magic flared as it poured down his throat, and his eyes gleamed as he continued his hunt.

He tracked her through several miles of forest, occasionally calling out to her, hearing her faint laughter, sweeter than bells, carry on the wind. His bloodlust had changed, sharpened 一 it wasn't an enemy he wanted now, and it wasn't violence he craved. But he was by no means satiated; if anything his need had peaked, sending him nearly into a frenzy. The taste of his goddess' desire in the air as he stalked her only added to his own.

Finally the trees thinned and he burst into a clearing. There was Lucy, running across as fluid as a fairy, gleaming again now that she was under the moon. His stride broadened to a sprint, and he grinned ferociously as he caught up.

He had only a second's warning as she turned, her own primal joy on her face, and lobbed a ball of pure starlight at him. It hit him dead on and sent him sprawling back. He sat up, shocked, to see her standing in a defensive position, skin glittering, hands glowing with more light. Her eyes danced as her smile stretched, full of mischief. Her hair, wild and untamed, had fallen out of its ponytail to hang tangled to her waist. She carefully took aim again, ready to shoot at him as soon as he moved.

He'd never been so turned on in his life.

Natsu rolled to the side, stunningly fast, laughing exuberantly as Lucy's light brushed his face on its way by. He came to his feet and rushed her, dodging several more light balls on his way. Reaching her, he grabbed her, only for her to twist and break out of his hold. Instead of running like he'd expected, she grabbed _his_ arm and went for a flip. Natsu was only too happy to oblige, flipping over her shoulder. But instead of sprawling on the ground in a heap like Lucy expected him to, he twisted to land on his feet, crouched down, and used the momentum of her flip to pull her down instead. As she fell, he rolled on top of her, cradling her head.

She tried to heave him off, but he'd set himself well, one hand behind her head, the other keeping one arm trapped to her side, his legs pressed against hers, weighing them down. She looked up at him, muted gold gleaming from her skin.

"Looks like you caught me," she whispered throatily.

"Yeah, I guess I did," he rasped back, before dipping his head and claiming her in a kiss.

It was deliberate, unrushed, a stark contrast to their previous embraces. But there was no less passion in this lip lock. His tongue swiped across her lips, teasing her, and she opened for him with a moan he swallowed greedily. The hand trapping her wrist wrapped around her waist instead, leaving her hands free to run over his shoulders and back. He could feel the softness of her body all the way down his, and he moved from her mouth to her neck, sucking and biting his way down its length to her shoulder.

Natsu pulled the strap of her shirt away from her skin, biting down hard, but stopping just before he could break through her skin. It should have hurt, but instead Lucy felt a jolt of pleasure so strong she couldn't help but let out a throaty moan. Her skin glittered as the wave of endorphins traveled through her. Natsu looked up at her, grinning, an absolutely wicked twinkle in his eye. He tugged her shirt down further and attached his mouth to her breast, sucking the flesh hard. She lit up again, threading her hands through his hair and gasping. Her back arched up and Natsu crushed her to him, bringing his forehead against hers.

"Gods, Luce," he rasped, "what are you doing to me?" And then he kissed her again, harder, almost sloppy in his eagerness.

She responded in kind, wrapping her legs around his waist to pull him even closer. Her hands traced the scales down his back, scratching them lightly, and he shuddered. He'd never thought of his armor as a weak spot, but it seemed he was sensitive to all things Lucy.

He reached down to her waist, tugging at her shirt. She arched up again, helping him pull it off and toss it to one side. Natsu reached under her, reaching for her bra clasp. He fumbled with it once, twice, then burned it off in sheer irritation. Lucy began to shriek a protest, but he swept the ashy remains of the lingerie off her chest and took one nipple into his mouth, silencing her objections.

He loved what the Blood Moon had done, entwining her magic and emotions so tightly. Every pulse of pleasure correlated directly to her skin, and the glow of her power ebbed and flowed across her body. He could feel his own scales shifting, rising up in their own form of pleasured goosebumps every time she trailed her hands across them. His inner fire was raging, begging to be released, and Natsu pushed all his heat toward his back, trying to avoid scorching Lucy. He got the feeling he was smoking slightly, and she twined her hands back into his hair as his scales started to smoulder with his own suppressed power. He was glad she'd had the presence of mind to have them work off some energy by running out here. Even with his blood thirst gone and having used a ridiculous amount of power already, he had to work hard not to burn her. Although he wouldn't mind being singed by the sun seemingly growing inside of her. How bright could he make her shine?

He let go of the first nipple with a lewd _pop_ , reaching up and squeezing her warm, full breast. His other hand tweaked her second nipple, hard. Lucy squealed, pushing her chest against him, and her light flared. So she liked it a little rough? With everything burning through them, he wasn't surprised, only excited, and when she rolled them over and raked her nails down his chest he had to throw his head back and let out a burst of flame. He was rock hard, and seeing her perched on him like a goddess, bending over to trace her tongue down to his six pack, had him nearly ready to weep with longing.

He felt his nails lengthen into claws as he buried them in the ground above his head, searching for control as her tongue traced his waistband. Lucy grinned, watching him struggle. His muscles shimmered as he gripped the grass beneath them. Were those claws? She could work with claws. She fumbled with his pants, yanking them down his hips. Her pupils dilated as he sprang free and she reached forward to wrap her hand around his shaft.

He stopped her, wrapping one taloned hand carefully around her wrist and flipping them over. He reached for the button of her pants, but Lucy beat him to it, shimmying them down her legs and leaving her in only her underwear. It was a deliberate move, and as he shredded her panties with his nails she felt the warmth pooling between her legs nearly boil.

He knelt between her legs as she lay back for him, entirely and unabashedly on display. He stopped for a moment, taking the time to just drink her in. She wasn't dormant, raking her eyes down his form in mutual admiration. Then Natsu bent, swiftly, capturing her lips in another demanding kiss before making his way down her body, stopping to bite and suck and lick as she gasped and trembled under him. She grabbed his hair with both hands, trying to push him down further, but Natsu's chase hadn't ended when he caught her. What fun was it if you didn't play a little before devouring your prey? So he slowed down further as she pushed, smiling against her stomach and nibbling at her hip.

He bypassed her center completely, kissing his way down her inner leg and nipping at her ankle. Lucy groaned in frustration, but he only laughed, switching to the other leg and starting his way back up. He nuzzled her inner thigh before biting down on the flesh, the smell of her arousal increasing as he did so. This close, it was all he could smell, surrounding him with its heady power. He couldn't hold back anymore even if he had wanted to, her scent drawing him in. He licked up her center, soaking up her gasp even as her taste made him see stars. He dove in, hungrily tasting her.

Lucy gasped, staring up at the heavens for some semblance of stability. He was driving her mad, she was going insane… and then he dove in, blunt as always, and now all she could do was pant and moan as he fanned the flame deep within her to a roaring inferno. The heat in her gut grew, the coil wound tighter and tighter, and then Natsu gave a rough suck to her clit, swirling his tongue around it, and she exploded, shrieking to the skies.

Natsu kept twirling his tongue around her little button as she shuddered and cried. He would make her ride this orgasm as long as she could stand it. He gripped her legs, only barely mindful of his claws as he lost himself in her taste and the sight of her screaming in pleasure above him. She was so bright he had to squint, but he refused to close his eyes. He wanted to remember every piece of this.

When she started to dim he pulled away, wiping his mouth on his hand. She was gasping, looking up at him with awe. He couldn't help but puff out his chest, ego inflating. It was gone in a moment as she grabbed his member and he let out an unmanly squeak. He didn't have time to reflect on it as she pumped once, twice, and he fell over her with a moan, supporting himself with his arms as she reached down between them, smearing his precum over his head and shaft.

"I want you," she whispered huskily. He smiled back, tender, and laid a kiss on her forehead.

"I can help with that, Princess," the smirk was back, and he lined himself up at her entrance, slowly pressing into her velvet heat, inch by inch. He snarled, everything in him demanding to push in faster and take her hard, but he barely held himself in check.

Lucy, apparently, had no such qualms. She grabbed his ass, yanking him into her until he was seated to the hilt. "Natsu, I _need_ this. Don't hold back on me now, Dragon."

He kissed her, all fangs and fire, and acquiesced to her wish. He pistoned into her, hard and deep, and as they broke the kiss Lucy threw her head back and screamed, raking her nails down his back. He grunted, pulling them both upright so that he was kneeling and she was seated in his lap. They fumbled a little and he slid out, and he pushed himself back into her with a gasp. Holding her in place by her hips, he used his powerful thighs to continue to pump into her. She yanked on his hair and he roared, loving the sharp tug of pain mixing with his pleasure.

He was very nearly undone, the teasing and his magic rushing through him making him teeter at the edge of oblivion. But he wouldn't go without her. Leaning down, Natsu bit into her shoulder at the base of her throat. He felt his fangs pierce the skin, and at that moment realized that maybe his bloodlust hadn't been quite sated after all. The taste of her on his tongue as his member was engulfed by her heat threw him over the edge, and his roar very nearly split the heavens bearing down on the both of them..

He was matched by her answering shriek as her luminescence flared, blinding them both and making the darkened meadow seem like high noon for a moment. His own power rose to meet it, swirling around them and trying to push its way out of his skin.

They both panted as they came down from their high, supporting each other, a sweaty and heaving mess. Opening her eyes, Lucy gasped, pinching Natsu until he looked up, too. Their magic drenched the meadow; golden sparkles danced on the air, flickering with tiny flames. It was beautiful, ethereal. Lucy teared up as she looked at it, and Natsu drew her to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

Slowly, the magic flickered out, leaving them in the clearing lit only by the moon. The moon which, Lucy realized, was significantly less bloody than before. It seemed once midnight ended, the power began to wane. She sighed, pulling back from Natsu and smiling at him. They shared a last, sweet kiss before she carefully slid off him.

It was as they reached for their clothes that they realized a few problems.

"Natsu, I don't have a bra!" Lucy wailed, envisioning bouncing boobs all the way back to the fortress. She didn't have underwear, either, but that was a little easier to work with. When her complaint was met with silence, she turned, only to see Natsu's horrified gaze. His scales had vanished, his claws retracted, but…

"Luce? I think when we, uh, you know… I think I, um… grew a _tail."_

And there it was, a long, thin, dragon's tail, swaying slowly through the air. Lucy stared for a moment, and then promptly burst into laughter. Natsu pouted a moment, but he couldn't resist, and soon both of them were on the ground howling.

"But why didn't it go away?" Lucy gasped, wiping away mirthful tears.

"I don't know!" Natsu's head was craned back, looking at it with bemusement. "I've never grown a tail while I'm in Dragon Force! Oh gods, what if it's there forever?"

"Well, we'll just have to see Porlyusica," Lucy stated matter of factly, only to dissolve into new giggles as she watched him try to figure out his pants.

"Not her, Luce!" he whined. "What if she cuts it off?"

"I'm sure 一 well, mostly sure, that she won't," Lucy soothed. She started to walk to the edge of the meadow but winced, hobbling a little in spite of herself. Natsu grinned smugly before swaggering past her halted form to smoothly crouch at her feet.

Lucy grumbled. She'd fought battles and helped take down an evil dragon lord! She'd been able to walk after those! A solid pounding, however amazing, shouldn't have done this. But after a couple more experimental steps she gave in and climbed on. Only to flail and try to leap off when Natsu's tail rubbed her still-throbbing sex through her pants. He laughed, holding her firmly to him.

"Sorry, sorry! Ow, no hitting! I couldn't help it, Luce," he laughed, heading back into the woods. He felt himself twitch at how her breasts rubbed his naked back through her thin shirt, and studiously ignored it. They needed to get back to base. Later though… this tail might not be all bad. Maybe they could hold off on seeing the witch.

"Hey, Luce?"

"Yeah, Natsu?"

"I'm glad you're home."

"Me too, Natsu."

* * *

 **Ta da! The chapter you've all been waiting for! Well, that and the Lisanna plotline. Now that the Underlords and the boning are out of the way, maybe we can finally see what's going on with her, huh?**

 **Many wonderful thanks to my beta, Lady Lutka, for all of her help and support!**

 **This week's author shoutouts go to:**

 **1\. Thyfreshprincess: Anyone with a Bel Aire inspired nickname you know is going to be awesome! "The Next Morning" is absolutely hilarious.**

 **2\. Soawksahm: This writer has two really heartwarming stories about the whole gang that I encourage everyone to read!**

 **Shoot me a review! Reading them makes me type faster!**


	12. Drowning

**Hello, everyone! So, I have an apology to make for last week. I was out of town three times in two weeks, and got a sinus infection on top of that. The writing just wasn't happening with all of that going on. But I'm back! We're only three chapters, including this one, away from the end, and then I'll potentially looking for new things to write! Any ideas, shoot em at me! Can't promise I'll use them, but I always like talking possibilities. But I've kept you from the chapter long enough. Enjoy!**

* * *

Lucy hummed lightly, resting her cheek on Natsu's shoulder as he walked them through the woods. Natsu hitched her up on his back slightly, making her squeak. She lifted up her head, ready to scold him, before a thought hit her.

"Natsu?"

"Yeah Lucy?" he turned his head slightly, so that she could see the curve of his cheek, offset by his sharp nose.

"Back at Fairy Tail, when we were, um… well, you know, before they..."

"When we were rolling around on that hill?"

She smacked him. "Don't be so crude! But yes. You mentioned something about radio silence," she leaned her chin back down on his back, looking past him and into the dark trees. "But I sent you letters. You didn't get them?"

He shook his head and she could hear the frown in his voice. "Nah. And I _do_ check my mail. Well, I guess Mira checks it for me. She gives me anything that comes in. Can't imagine her holding one back."

Lucy hummed thoughtfully. "I wonder what happened. We'll have to ask her when we get back to the group."

"Definitely. Speaking of, we're here!" Natsu made to walk out of the trees, but Lucy tugged sharply on his hair to stop him. It was her desired response, but when he put her down he turned and suddenly she found herself backed into the rough trunk of an oak tree, caged by his strong arms. He bent, hot breath whispering over her heated skin.

"Luce… if you're gonna do something like that, you better be ready to handle the consequences," he murmured, eyes glittering in the murky dawn. She could see the edge of one sharp fang peeking out of his smirk, and her breath caught. Without thinking, she reached up on her toes and kissed him, darting her tongue out to play with the sharpened canine.

Natsu groaned lowly, crushing her back against the trunk, running his hands up her sides. His tail fought its way free of his pants, curling itself around one slender wrist as she let her hands drift over his back. Lucy gasped, breaking free, and Natsu coughed awkwardly, loosening his newest appendage.

"Sorry 'bout that," he muttered, bringing the tip of his tail in front of his face. Lucy giggled as he went cross eyed trying to follow as it swayed and twitched. It seemed he had an easier time controlling it when he wasn't thinking about it too hard. Personally, she was hoping it would stay forever. She could definitely get used to it.

But right now they had things to do, no matter how enticing that tail was. She could hear cheering and laughter from inside the fort, so it was clear the battle had been won, and they really needed to go check in with the guild. Wrapping her hand around Natsu's, she tugged him toward the courtyard, heedless of his attempts to tuck his tail back into his pants.

Stepping through the broken gates, Lucy started to look for the Master, only to be tugged off balance as Natsu was slammed to the ground by a speeding ball of blue fur. "Natsu!" Happy wailed, clinging to his foster father's chest. "You're ok! You're here! Everyone said you were fine and to give you and Lucy some 'time' for something or other but I was so _worried_ about you and―"

"Happy! C'mon, buddy, it's ok! I'm here now. I'm sorry we weren't back sooner," Natsu scratched Happy in between the ears, fluffing his fur. Happy looked up at him, big eyes watering with emotion. "But where did you go, Natsu?"

"Yeah, Natsu. Where did you go?" they turned to see Cana, chortling, downing a flask. Natsu went bright red as Lucy tried unsuccessfully to melt into the ground.

"We, um, we were, well, we, um…" horrified, Lucy watched as Natsu's tail wiggled its way out of his pants, seeming to twitch and flail in time with his awkward hemming and hawing. She ran up to stand behind him, stepping on it so Cana wouldn't see it over his shoulder. Natsu let out an unmanly yelp.

"We were chasing a rogue Underlord mage!" she said firmly. "Had to make sure no one would get away."

" _Oh,"_ Cana drawled, raising a brow, "how… _thorough_ of you," she sauntered away, before pausing and calling back loudly. "Are you sure you weren't chasing _tail,_ Lucy? We won't judge you!"

Lucy squeaked, hands flying up to cover her face as Cana laughed, walking off. Carefully she lifted her foot off of Natsu. His tail lifted up, curling around her ankle. It seemed almost forlorn and Lucy felt bad for stepping on it. Especially since it had done them no good at all. She glared at Cana's back as she offered Natsu a hand up.

"C'mon. Let's go have Master have a look at that, at least." Natsu blanched, but nodded gamely. As they crossed the courtyard, mercifully cleared of Underlords now locked in their own dungeon, they were greeted with friendly hoots and hollers.

"So where'd you two run off to? Nevermind, we don't want to know!"

"Lucy, you're blushing! Or is that just a first degree burn Natsu gave you?"

"Assflame, you look like you have a literal ass flame!"

At that last one, Natsu charged at Gray, and in a moment half of Fairy Tail had been pulled in to the celebratory brawl, heedless of the battle they'd just fought. Lucy shook her head, but she couldn't hold in a laugh when Natsu's tail snuck up and flicked Gray right in the nose. Their friends were insane but she wouldn't have it any other way. Letting her partner work off some steam, she headed over to her pack. She needed a bra.

After the fight was broken up, courtesy of Erza, they reconvened with the Master. They were joined by the rest of Team Natsu and Team Ceartas. Master held up Natsu's tail, chortling, "I'm not going to ask how you got this, brat, but it seems to be a physical manifestation of your magic. I can feel its signature," he narrowed his eyes over it for a moment before pronouncing, "seems to me it'll take care of itself. Probably around sunrise or some time tomorrow. But it may well be a normal part of your Dragon Force now."

Natsu grinned, "Cool! I'll have the most badass Dragon Force, then!"

Something drew Lucy's eyes over to the shadowed wall near the group. She made out Gajeel, staring hard at Natsu, then his own butt, then Natsu, then back to his rear. She tried valiantly to hold in her giggles. She had a feeling the two Slayers would be having an awkward conversation soon.

Turning her attention back to the conversation, she met Master's smile. "Well, children, it seems that your job has been fulfilled. The Magic Council has been contacted by Rai and myself and your reward will arrive within the week."

Lucy squealed eagerly. She could go home! Take a bath! Pay her rent for a few months! Of course she'd still go on missions… she hesitated, looking at the two teams before her. They were both her teams now, in a way. Then Natsu wrapped a firm arm (and tail) around her waist and Lona sent her a wink, and she relaxed. Her home was with Team Natsu. But she knew she would never say no to an occasional side adventure with Ceartas.

Master dismissed them all with an order to get some rest, and she bedded down for the night by Levy's campfire, promising to tell her friend absolutely everything when they got home. They were joined by Wendy and soon followed by Natsu and Happy. Gajeel grudgingly joined them a few minutes later, strategically placing himself in between Levy and the rest of Team Shadowgear. Levy didn't seem to mind. The day finally catching up to everyone, the group quickly settled down after Natsu made a round of the campsite, eating up all the fires.

Lucy was tucked snugly into her sleeping bag when he came back, and she yelped as one side was mercilessly opened up to the cold air. His toned body slid in behind hers not even a second after, a barrier against the morning's chill. He wrapped a firm arm around her waist.

"Shush, Luce, I don't have a sleeping bag. I was kidnapped, remember? It was terrible. Lemme sleep with you," he breathed in her ear. She laced her fingers around his and pillowed her head on his other arm as her response. She could feel his smile in her hair as she fell back asleep.

* * *

Much later into the day Fairy Tail woke up in time to meet the Rune Knights, there to take control of the prisoners and shut down the Underlords, hopefully for good. Everyone knew that another power player would fight their way to the top, sooner or later, but for today they could go home and celebrate.

The journey back seemed much faster than the one to the fortress. Natsu did indeed lose his tail the next morning, to Lucy's chagrin. Even sadder, they hadn't found the chance to sneak away from the group on the three day journey back. Certainly not for lack of trying, especially on Natsu's part.

Happy, Carla, and Lily had flown ahead to warn their guildmates left behind that the rescue mission had been a success. They returned to the marching column on the last day of their travels to announce a massive party was being prepared. Everyone stepped up their pace, eager to finally be back.

Stepping into the guild was a wonderful feeling. Lucy took a minute to just stand in the doorway and soak up the joy of coming _home._ She opened her eyes to see Happy a mere two inches away, staring at her intensely.

"Auggh! Happy! Don't do that!"

The cat chuckled evilly. "Sorry, Lucy," he said innocently, "I was just passing on a message from Natsu! He says to meet him at his house in half an hour."

Lucy blinked, looking around. Natsu had vanished. Was he preparing a surprise? That was uncharacteristically sweet of him. Lucy smiled fondly, then headed over to the bar where Mira had already set up shop. She had time for a milkshake.

* * *

Natsu headed up the hill to his house, note in hand. When he'd walked in, he'd been pulled to the side by Happy and handed a missive from Lisanna. She'd wanted him to come to his house to talk. She'd said it was urgent and private. He'd looked for Lucy, but Happy assured him he would go find her. So up the path Natsu went.

He entered his clearing, smiling a little at his ramshackle little hut. He and Happy would have to fix it up if he was going to convince Lucy to move in… Natsu stopped a moment, shocked by the suddenness of the thought, then shook his head and shelved it for later. He was distracted, though, as he crossed to the door, and so a tripwire he would normally have seen eluded him.

As soon as he stepped on it, he heard a _twang_ from across the clearing. He turned, seeking the origin of the sound, only to be completely encased in an orange gel that dropped onto him from the tree above. Sputtering in shock and outrage, Natsu twisted and choked, trying to burn his way out. The gel didn't seem to care about his flames, though. He could only move in slow motion, limbs hampered by the sheer volume and viscosity of the liquid. Still, he reached the edge of his bell shaped, gelatinous prison, only to encounter a hard shell around the outside edges. _Shit._ He was starting to get dizzy from lack of air. Spreading his fingers over the shell, he closed his eyes and pushed as hard as he could.

"Breathe, Natsu. It won't hurt you."

Opening his eyes, he saw Lisanna, standing just outside his improvised cell. She lifted one hand and placed it opposite his own. " _Breathe,_ Natsu. I promise, it'll be ok."

He had to suck in a breath anyway or he would pass out. The gel filling his mouth was gross and he gagged, but found he could inhale without issue. Once he'd taken a few huge breaths and gotten used to the feeling, he looked back at Lisanna. She'd called him here and put him in a cage? What the hell? Staring at her, he realized she was a mess. Hair disheveled, bags around her red rimmed eyes. What was going on?

Her hand was still lined up with his. She sighed, staring at him for a long moment. " _Why?_ " he tried to ask, but it seemed that while he could breathe in his prison, speech was another matter. But she saw his lips move and understood anyway. Stepping away, she twisted her hands in front of her, looking to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Natsu. I―I didn't want this. But I had to do something! And nothing else was working and she has you fooled and pulled in and I couldn't let her hurt you again―" her words tumbled over one another, almost too fast for him to catch. He saw how she drew one arm across her body to scratch at the skin of the other, too hard. She stopped abruptly and took a deep breath. Her eyes flashed back to his.

"You're confused. I know. I should―I should start at the beginning. But what's the beginning? Where did we really _start,_ Natsu? Was it when we were kids? Is it right now? Or maybe before we were even born?" she shook her head.

"Ever since I came back, everything has been different. My family treats me like glass. My friends confuse me because I don't know which version is which anymore! There's magic _everywhere._ I can feel it all around… it's like being thrown into a lake after being stranded in the desert for years. Except it's not a lake, it's an ocean, and I'm _drowning_."

Her eyes burned into him, and with a horrible jolt Natsu recognized that sharp edge which he'd seen in the Memory Mage and in Malleolus. Somehow, somewhere along the line, his oldest friend had dropped off the ledge and into madness.

"I thought coming back would be wonderful! I thought it would feel like home, like I belonged! But _nothing is the same,"_ she stressed, "nothing except… except you." As she spoke, her voice slowed and her eyes softened. "You were the same brash Natsu. Still careless, ferocious. Still my best friend. I thought―I don't know what I thought. But you anchored me to this world again."

Her eyes darkened again and the madness was back. "But it wasn't the same, was it, Natsu? _She_ was there. She's always there! And you go to her, like a moth to the flame! Don't you know you'll get burned!? I had to protect you!" she was pacing now, waving her arms, tugging at her hair.

"She left you, and you still chased after her like a dog! Even when you thought she wasn't writing!" she reached into her jacket, pulling out a small packet of papers which she threw to the ground. Natsu recognized the handwriting instantly. _Lucy's missing letters._ The ones that had caused such confusion and hurt between him and Lucy.

"Honeyed words and false promises. Lies, lies, lies. She just wanted to keep you on her hook. Something she could come back to after her adventures without you. And you were happy to stay there!" Lisanna whirled, tears gathering in her eyes. "Why is it _her,_ Natsu? It was always me! It was me before I went to another world and you found someone else."

She sank to her knees, and Natsu slowly followed suit, flattening a hand against the shell once more. His heart was breaking for his friend. How could he not have noticed? They'd all assumed she would slide right back into their lives like nothing had changed. But to her, of course it would be a confusing, parallel mess. She'd been pulled into an alternate dimension, accepted she would never return, and then suddenly been pulled back 'home' to a guild that had been rebuilt by members that had grown and changed in the two years she'd been gone. Was it any wonder she'd fallen into insanity, with everyone acting as though she should be happy and secure in her homecoming?

His eyes fell to the letters. He could understand Lisanna's rage and pain. Hell, he could understand why she'd trapped him in a bubble. If he were the only target of her madness, he'd get it. But Lucy was innocent. Whatever fantasies Lisanna had constructed weren't true. However pure her intentions might be ― she'd said something about protecting him? ― he couldn't let her hurt Lucy. She had to understand that she was living in a delusion! But trapped in his bubble, he couldn't speak or fight.

Lisanna's head snapped up, looking toward the edge of the clearing. "She should be here any minute," she murmured. Natsu's heart rate picked up, panicked. Lisanna had trapped him thoroughly. What had she planned for Lucy? She looked at him and smiled, a mad grin, too wide, showing too many teeth.

"Happy told me all about how she snared you. She has him under her spell, too, but that was easier. I told him I would help you set up a surprise for her. For a fish he delivered my messages. And it's the truth. You don't see it yet, but she's only using you. She'll only hurt you. She already has. You saved me when I came back to this world, Natsu," she whispered, "and even though you replaced me, I still want to save you in return."

She stood up and faced the clearing, leaving Natsu to pound on his prison desperately. He tried to shout, but only let out a large bubble which rose agonizingly slowly to the top. Any fire he conjured was snuffed out before it could burn. He was helpless to warn Lucy, to stop Lisanna. Why hadn't he seen this sooner? Why hadn't anyone? They could have stopped this. And now Lucy was caught in the crossfire.

Lisanna rolled her shoulders, pulling her transformation out of the core of her magic, her maddened psychosis bringing clarity to everything. The ocean let her steal a few single breaths before stealing her away again, and black feathers coated her body and her fingers lengthened into razor sharp talons. She felt her very bones shimmer and change, making her lighter and faster. She heard Lucy's steps come up the path, and a moment later the blonde stepped into the clearing, looking around curiously.

Lisanna didn't give her a chance to orient herself as she crossed the ground in three swift strides. She lifted a claw. Once this was over, everything could be normal again. Once she'd taken care of Lucy, she could be happy again. She could finally escape from the clutches of the ocean trying to drown her; she could _breathe_ again. If Lucy was the sacrifice for her release, then she could do it. It was all so simple, wasn't it? _Wasn't it?_

She didn't hesitate as she slashed and severed her freedom into the woman before her.

* * *

 **Another cliffhanger! Hooray!**

 **On a serious note, I see a lot of stories about Lucy being replaced when Lisanna comes back to the guild. I can't help but think that it would be the other way around, that _Lisanna_ would feel as though she's been the one forgotten about. In the anime, she bounces back almost immediately, although she seems shocked and traumatized as she watches the world she's built a new home in be ripped apart by war and then is literally pulled out of Edolas Mira's arms, to watch that Mira and Elfman fall to the ground sobbing after giving her what must be the saddest blessing ever. And now she's back in a guild that (at least in this story), treats her as though she's never been gone. Nice on the surface, but she has been gone. For years. And to ignore and bury that trauma to try and meet the happy expectations of her family and guild could, in an absolute worst case scenario, end up with the madness she's experiencing, where she ends up latching obsessively onto Natsu and believing that Lucy must be removed as an enemy. My goal is not for anyone to hate Lisanna-what she's doing is super not ok, but she needs help instead of hate. A lot of help. Very quickly, since she's actively slashing at Lucy with talons. **

**On that cheery note, a massive thank you to my beta, Lady Lutka! She's currently working on a multipart NaLu fanfic that looks amazing! Should be coming out soonish, so keep an eye on those latest releases!**

 **Author shoutouts this week:**

 **Sam Le Faie: I really enjoyed'A Second Chance,' and I hope you all will, too, if you haven't seen it before.**

 **NotJustAnyFanGrl: A lot of fun shorties exploring different NaLu scenarios. If you need a quick, fun read over lunch, this author is for you.**

 **I will see you all next week for the long anticipated, Lisanna-Lucy showdown!**


	13. Back to Normal

**The chapter you've all been waiting for! CHICK FIGHT! But really, hope the chapter makes up for the wait. Enjoy!**

* * *

Instincts screaming, Lucy threw herself out of the way nearly the second she stepped into the clearing, before her mind had processed what was in front of her. A sharp pain in her shoulder made her gasp and flinch, and she fumbled her roll a bit, coming up into a defensive stance a bit shakily. She looked around wildly.

A huge glob of orange _something_ sat at the center of the clearing, a blurred figure inside it. There was no time to investigate, though. A shallow slice to her right bicep bled sluggishly. Flesh wound it may be, it hurt like hell, and whatever had made it was clearly razor sharp. In front of her, turning around after the mostly failed attack, was… Lisanna?

The other mage was covered in silky, ebony crow's feathers. She was hunched oddly, her shoulder blades too high and sharp, like wings aborted halfway through creation. Her features seemed narrower, more like a hawk 一 but maybe that was just the expression of rage on her face. And as Lucy's eyes dropped to the six inch talons replacing her fingers, she knew what had given her injury.

There was no time to understand. Lisanna was coming at her again, much faster than Lucy remembered her moving, and all she could do was dodge, pulling out her whip as she rolled away. She lashed it once at Lisanna's feet, tripping the other girl up. Lucy winced. Of course it was the whip arm that was hurt.

She clambered to her feet as the takeover mage did the same. "Stop! Lisanna, what are you doing? We're teammates!" Lucy exclaimed, trying to reason with her. This had to be a joke. An insane, terribly thought out prank.

Then her eyes flicked to the weird orange goo, much closer to it after their initial scramble. Natsu was inside, pounding sluggishly at the wall. She saw him try to shout, but no sound came out. His eyes were wide and desperate.

Lucy's head snapped back toward Lisanna, incensed. What the _hell?_ She requipped two keys, calling Aries and Leo to her. As they both popped into being, Lisanna stopped from where she'd been preparing to charge Lucy once more. She threw back her head and laughed.

"Of course! Went away for all that training and you still can't fight someone one on one! Looks like all that work didn't get you very far," she cooed.

Lucy gritted her teeth. "Well, you attacked me without warning! How is that fair?" she snapped back.

Lisanna stopped and tilted her head. "I suppose that's fair," she murmured, "perhaps we can come to an agreement. You don't call your spirits, and I give you time to address your injury." She smiled too wide and tilted her head the other way, almost until it touched her shoulder. "Then we can see who's really worthy!"

 _Worthy?_ Lucy thought, withdrawing to the other side of the field. She sent Aries away with a ' _sorry!'_ and brought Virgo out to dress her wound instead.

Leo remained. "Lucy, you cannot be serious!" he snapped. "She wants to kill you! I can't let you put yourself in such an idiotic position."

Lucy glanced across the clearing to Lisanna. She had shifted back into her normal form and was sitting cross legged in front of Natsu's gel prison. "I know, Loke. But something… something doesn't seem quite right. I don't know what's going on, but if I beat her using you guys, I don't think she'll ever be able to forgive it. The only way to start fixing whatever this is is by doing it just her and I. I can feel it."

Leo leaned down to look her directly in the eye. "And this has nothing whatsoever to do with your feelings of inadequacy, however much training you've done? Nothing to do with proving to yourself and Natsu that you're 'strong enough' to stand with the team, even though you've already proven you are, time and again?"

She hesitated. "I can't say that's not there. It's part of it. But Loke," she rushed as he opened his mouth, "that doesn't change how I feel! This is important. Somehow. I think… it feels like we're fighting over Natsu. Like animals. Like I have to win him in a fair fight, or this will never go away," she rotated her arm as Virgo stepped away from it, testing her range of motion. "Besides," she growled, "she put him in a cage, and I'm gonna pound her into the ground for that."

Loke still looked like he wanted to argue, but Virgo laid a hand on his arm. "Let Princess do as she wishes," she stated flatly, "it will be enjoyable to see her deal out punishment."

"Alright," Loke sniffed, "but if you're really in trouble, I'm coming out on my own power."

Lucy smiled at them. "I wouldn't expect anything less, although I hope it doesn't come to that. Thank you, all of you."

They vanished, and Lucy turned to see Lisanna getting up from the bubble and moving to the center of the meadow. She had that creepy grin again, emitting a sense of _wrong_ that Lucy just couldn't shake.

* * *

Natsu wanted to scream. He wanted to knock Lisanna out and drag her to the guild to get her help. And he wanted to shake Lucy by the shoulders for agreeing to this idiotic stunt! Stupid, stupid, stupid! _Why_ wouldn't she fight without her spirits? If she pulled a couple of them out they could have Lisanna tied in a pretty bow in minutes!

But he knew why. This was Lucy's ultimate test. Her biggest fear. Was she good enough? Did she really belong on Team Natsu? It made him furious to think that she still held on to her insecurities from before, and he wanted to run his own head into a wall until he forgot that he'd helped them fester.

What would happen? His terror ratcheted up as Lucy's spirits vanished 一 damn that Loke, he'd beat him into next month for agreeing to this 一 and she turned to the battleground. He was pretty sure Lucy could beat Lisanna, but she was already injured on her dominant arm. And, Natsu hated to admit it, but both women looked enraged. Even if Lucy won, what would be the cost?

* * *

They stopped twenty feet apart, Natsu's prison in between them, as though he were chancellor to their battle. He looked pissed and scared, attempting to light himself on fire again and again. But the sludge held firm. Lucy focused all her attention on Lisanna. She'd never seen that crow-form before. She had to assume that the other mage had also been improving on her magic while Lucy was gone.

Sure enough, Lisanna rolled her neck, cracking it, before lurching forward onto all fours. Her body swelled with muscle, white fur sprouting down her neck and spreading over her thickening flesh. A second later a white lioness stood before Lucy, drooling and snarling. Lucy caught her breath, then requipped a golden key and placed it on her chest. Her magic swirled and crackled, and when it settled she was dressed in a cow print bikini top and leather pants. Her own muscles bulged, and as Lisanna charged she cracked the ground with her whip, creating a shockwave that blasted toward her opponent.

Lisanna rolled, her new feline form lending her a fluid grace, and swiped a paw at Lucy. She countered with her own enhanced block and threw a punch that sent Lisanna a half step back. The lioness came at her again, forcing Lucy to duck and weave. Despite her Taurus-enhanced strength, Lisanna's new form meant Lucy was unprepared for close combat. Her usual throws and twists wouldn't work here.

She tried to stay out of Lisanna's range, cracking her whip down to create Earth Waves whenever possible. She blocked several more crushing blows before one hit and sent her flying across the clearing. Pulling herself up on one knee, she cracked her whip and sent the other mage tumbling as well.

Lisanna staggered upright and they stared at each other a moment, both breathing hard. Then Lisanna rippled as she changed again, and Lucy requipped in response. This time, Lucy charged forward first, her twin Cancer blades slashing and swiping to meet the elongated jaw and rows of sharp teeth Lisanna had grown in crocodile form. Lucy twisted behind Lisanna, slicing at her back, only to have the blade glance off her hard, pebbly skin. Lucy nearly screamed in frustration as they continued their dance. She was breathing harder, sweat dripping down her face and into her cleavage, and she didn't really know _why_ she was fighting.

But as they slashed and snarled back and forth, she noticed Lisanna was doing her absolute best to keep herself in between Lucy and Natsu. It was almost like she was… protecting him? On a hunch, Lucy cried out, "I'm not here to hurt him, Lisanna!"

The Takeover Mage froze for a moment, allowing Lucy to kick her back a few steps. "Stop _lying!"_ Lisanna shrieked, before charging and changing her form as she came. Reptile skin turned into shiny white carapace, her face shrank as her tail grew. A shining white scorpion jabbed its venomous tail down at Lucy, and she barely deflected it.

Well. She had the perfect Stardress for this. Requipping Scorpio's key, she was just in time to dodge a downward stab of Lisanna's stinger with the enhanced speed allotted to her by the spell. She called up a Sandstorm and it whipped around the clearing, blinding everyone. She heard Lisanna's scream of rage from the center. She darted forward through the sand, striking Lisanna on the side as she went past. She dodged away as that merciless stinger swung in her direction, then swiftly crossed behind the takeover mage to again rush her under cover of the storm.

* * *

Natsu watched the swirling sand with bated breath. What was going on in there? He could hear cries and shouts, but the sounds were muffled by the gel and he couldn't tell who was yelling, even with his enhanced senses. His nerves were nearly at a breaking point. This was Lucy's Storm, so she should be able to navigate it, right? But after working closely with Lisanna for a few months, he knew she had creatures up her sleeve that might throw Lucy off guard, especially if she couldn't see the change.

Goddamn, but he wanted to be able to see! He pounded on his prison in frustration. Even with how high the stakes were, he couldn't deny his excitement at watching Lucy fight. Each move was fluid, almost as though she danced her way through the fight. He was burning to spar with her. And some of the outfits she was pulling out with these Stardresses… he'd love to see them up close when this ended. If it ended. His nerves were taut, stretched to the breaking point by his fear for both his friend and his lover.

As he tried futilely to break out once more, the sand dropped to the ground.

* * *

Lucy gasped out a breath as she hit the ground, smacked across the clearing by a lucky swing from the stinger. She wasted no time pulling herself to her feet. Across the way, she was grateful to see Lisanna breathing hard and favoring her left foot. Lucy's hits must have done some damage of her own.

Lisanna dropped to all fours, minimizing the disadvantage of an injured foot. Lucy let go of her Scorpio Stardress to watch warily. How many forms did the other woman have? She had to be running low on magic energy. Lucy certainly was. Her arm was pounding, the bandage soaking through. She was beat to hell and back. But as she risked a glance and Natsu, she steadied. She had to win. She had to find out what was going on, and goddammit, she was going to fix this whole thing. Or at least try. Fairy Tail didn't fight each other like this! She wasn't going to allow a guildmate to go off the deep end like this without at least trying to understand.

She needed to end this now.

As Lisanna sprouted pure white spines down her back, Lucy requipped her own key and placed it on her chest. She'd been too busy reacting to Lisanna's attacks. Time to launch one of her own.

Lisanna charged her, porcupine spines not only covering her entire back side, but also shooting from her hands. Lucy took her stance, thrusting her own hands out toward the rampaging mage and barely flinching when a spine scoured her cheek on its way past.

"Wool Bomb: Containment Puff!" she cried, and a massive pink ball shimmered into existence and surrounded Lisanna, catching on her spikes and thoroughly entrapping her. But that didn't mean anything; she'd proven herself adept at changing form and slithering through whatever defense might be set. Lucy had only moments. She stepped forward, charging up her hands to deliver a blast, and gasped in pain.

A spike had embedded itself in the meaty part of her outer thigh. Lucy whimpered as she tried to put weight on it. Nope, not happening. Sweat stung her eyes as she looked back up. Fine. She'd take the long shot, and she'd do it off balance. This. Ended. Here.

Her hands glowed with the last remnants of her power and she formed it into a ball, aiming. Lisanna saw what she was doing and ripped desperately at the wool.

"No! No! You can't! You can't win, I gave up everything for this, for him, it'll never be normal! _I won't let you!"_

Lucy sighed, suddenly exhausted, "Sorry, Lisanna. But this is Fairy Tail, and we don't give up on our nakama. Losing to you would mean I've given up on you. And I haven't," she let loose her orb of light, falling backward at the recoil from her own magic. The orb shot across the clearing, catapulting directly into Lisanna's chest, blasting her out of the wool and across the ground.

Both women landed at the same time, both back in their original forms, magic depleted. Lisanna was out cold, sprawled on her back, face turned to the sun. Lucy struggled to roll over. Her arm and leg bled sluggishly, but she knew better than to pull out the spine in her leg. It was the only thing slowing the bleeding until she could get to Wendy. Painfully, she dragged herself over to Natsu, but her strength failed when she got close enough to touch his cage. Her hand came up to gently rest where his fist pounded the barrier between them.

Huh. The pounding was a lot louder than it had been before… and it didn't match up with his hand striking the surface… Lucy hazily turned her head toward the path to the clearing and started to cry with relief with Fairy Tail members poured in, overtaking the scene of the battle in moments.

Wendy, Gray, and Erza rushed over to her. "Oh, Lucy!" Wendy cried, resting her hand over the quill. "We're so sorry we weren't here sooner."

"How…how did you know?" Lucy whispered.

Erza answered her from where she and Gray were trying to break Natsu's cell. "Cana had an intuition something was wrong. Happy confessed the 'surprise' Lisanna wanted to set up, and Mira led the charge. It seems she's been concerned about her sister for a little while."

She turned back to the cage, and swung her sword at a section Gray had frozen. The barrier shattered, and Natsu was able to push his way out. He fell to the ground, hacking up globs of orange gel, before scrambling up and stumbling over to Lucy.

Wendy helped her sit as he fell to his knees and pulled her to his chest. She hugged him back, mindless of the squish of his clothes. Neither of them said anything, just holding each other in the center of the chaos. Lucy opened her eyes, looking past Natsu's shoulder. She saw Lisanna, likewise cradled to Mira's chest as Elfman brushed her hair out of her eyes. Mira was crying, and Lucy felt her own tears start to slip down her cheeks.

Master stooped next to Mira, sharing a few words. She nodded, and Elfman gathered his youngest sister up as Cana laid a sleeping card on her head. They started down the hill, but Mira stopped them a moment and hurried back toward Lucy. She knelt down when she reached them, and placed a gentle hand on Lucy's own.

"I'm so… I'm so _sorry,"_ she whispered, "I thought something was wrong but I didn't… I never dreamed…"

Lucy cut her off. "It's ok, Mira," she said, "this isn't your fault. She needs help."

"If anyone should have known, it should be me," Natsu cut in, "and I didn't see it either. Before Lucy came up the hill she was talking to me. I think she's been hiding a lot of pain since she came back. She doesn't feel truly, anchored, I guess, in this world. It's killing her, and she somehow twisted all of her pain onto Lucy. She needs to feel like she belongs again."

Mira nodded. "Thank you. Master knows a place. She'll, um, she'll go live there until she's better. We're all welcome to visit. But I think it would be best if neither of you came for awhile." She saw the pain in Natsu's eyes. "I'm sorry. To both of you. This never should have happened. But thank you for stopping her, Lucy. And for not ending things like I think she would have, had she won."

She got up, brushing off her long skirts. "I'll let you know if… _when…_ she's good enough to see you again. I have to believe we'll get to that point," she nodded firmly to herself, then turned and walked away to join Elfman.

The clearing emptied quickly then, until it was just Natsu, Lucy and Happy. The little cat floated over, dropping into Lucy's arms. His eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry, Lucy," he whimpered, "I thought it was going to be a surprise for you! Something nice!"

She ruffled his fur, "It's ok, Happy. You didn't know. None of us knew. So don't blame yourself, ok?" he sniffled again, then nodded.

Lifting out of her arms, he hovered above them. "Well, then, you should really get cleaned up, Lucy. Orange is _so_ not your color."

Lucy looked down at the globs of gel that had dripped and smeared on her from Natsu's tight hold and gasped in outrage. "Damn cat! All colors are my colors!" she tried to swipe at him, but he was too far away and Natsu was too warm.

So instead she watched from the comfort of his arms as Happy zoomed off down the path, yelling something about "alone time with Carla." As bratty as the Exceed could be, she appreciated his tact in allowing herself and Natsu a little time on their own after what had happened.

For a moment, they didn't speak, both taking in what had happened. The only sounds were birdsong and the wind murmuring through the trees. Lucy closed her eyes and leaned against Natsu's chest.

"I'm sorry," she looked up at him, surprised. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop her," Natsu continued, "not just today, but earlier. I don't know how long ago she…would you have even left if it wasn't for her? I've been thinking about it, that fight in Glissfield from months ago. When you got this," he lightly touched the scar on her arm, remnants of the hit she'd taken for Lisanna. "She told us all a story about you wanting to prove yourself, and I yelled at you. I'm sorry for that, too."

Lucy stirred, pulled herself away enough to look into his eyes. She paused a moment and chose her words with care. "I don't blame you for Lisanna, Natsu. And it's awful what's happened and I hope she can get help, but… I can't be upset for leaving. Whether she was the tipping point or not, you and I needed to have this talk. I needed to go off on my own. I was trying to prove my strength while relying on you too much and not taking enough initiative to train on my own or to even talk to you about it. I just wallowed in it."

He nodded, "And I was always coming to your rescue, whether you needed it or not. I never gave you an opportunity to get better and then I helped you beat yourself up about it."

They looked at each other a moment, small smiles gracing both their mouths. "Let's be better teammates from now on, yeah?" Natsu asked, holding his hand out, a little awkwardly since he was still cradling her.

She took it, smile widening. "This time we'll promise to talk to each other before little issues become big issues," she agreed.

Natsu grinned enthusiastically. "Yes! Be good for dating, too!"

"D-Dating?" Lucy quavered. Mentally she smacked herself. Of course they were dating! Like hell she was letting someone take her virginity _in a forest_ and grow a _tail_ and then _not_ be her boyfriend! She grinned back at him, "Right! Dating!"

He shook his head and stood up, taking her with him. He started toward the stream, still carrying her. "C'mon, Lucy! Let's go get cleaned up in the river!"

"Outside! I'm not getting naked outside!"

"Well geeze, why not? We did it just this week!"

"It's not the same, Natsu!"

"I don't see 一 _ow,_ stop pulling my hair! 一 Fine, I won't look then! But I keep my soap in a tree down there so we have to go anyway!"

"Ok, see, this is one of those issues we have to talk about…"

As he ran headlong down the path to the water, cradling her securely in his arms as they bantered, Lucy couldn't stop a wide smile overtaking her. Despite all the confusion and pain and uncertainty of the past few months, she wouldn't trade it for a second. She was home, and it felt like home, with none of the insecurities of the past.

As he reached the water and lept into a pool, both of them still fully dressed, she couldn't help but let out a shout of laughter. She couldn't wait for where life took them next.

* * *

 **And there you have it. The next chapter will be the epilogue! (It won't take two weeks, promise. It's been in my head for awhile) As usual a huge thank you to Lady Lutka for her endless help and patience with my writing. Drop me a review!**

 **Authors:**

 **Mooifyourecows: _Her Strength_ is totally awesome. **

**Starmini: This author is great with words and plot! Highly recommend.**

 **Silken Ink: An interesting take on Natsu and Lucy's story, and so far has been updating regularly!**


	14. Epilogue

The creak of the gate alerted her to their presence. Her hands tightened around the roots of the flowers she was planting before a conscious effort relaxed them. She was nervous. After what she'd done… she was surprised they had come. She didn't know what to say.

Months of therapy, inpatient to out, and she finally felt grounded. Not only to this world, but to herself. She could walk herself through her inner workings and understand what had gone so horribly wrong without falling back into that trap of darkness and mania. If the jealousy and fear and uncertainty visited her again, she had learned to handle it swiftly and harshly, to package it up neatly and then dissect it during her next session, to destroy it completely. Hopefully, with time, the urging of madness would leave her completely. It had already faded so much, and she had vowed to keep working. Fairy Tail did not give up, and it was that mantra that made the whole process of recovery that much easier.

But today she faced the hardest part. She had been deemed not to be a danger to her guild weeks ago, whatever the situation, but how did she convey that? Even scarier 一how did she apologize? She'd seen most of her guildmates by now and they'd welcomed her back with an easy camaraderie. But that would not work for this. Most people in the guild had been on the sideline. But not her visitors today. They had been her protagonist and antagonist, her angel and demon. Now she recognized that they were just people, but wasn't that even scarier? Things weren't black and white anymore, and she had had to learn to navigate a world of grays. How would they react? Still holding the flower, she turned.

Natsu's bright grin welcomed her, but her gaze darted to Lucy. Her once 'enemy' smiled softly at her. In her eyes was understanding… and forgiveness. The sight made Lisanna feel almost lightheaded with relief, and she dropped the flower, stumbling forward to pull the blonde into a hug, nearly crying as she babbled out apologies and explanations.

Lucy returned the embrace, rubbing Lisanna's shoulder and letting her cry herself out. The takeover mage felt a couple awkward pats on her head from Natsu, undoubtedly horrified by her tears and equally unsure what to do about them. After a few minutes she regained control and pulled back, wiping her eyes. Lucy handed her a tissue, murmuring words of reassurance. Natsu swooped in for a hug, too, now that the terror of crying women had receded.

Lisanna picked up her dropped flower, wincing slightly at the crushed petals and a bruised stem. But it would be alright. She'd plant it and water it and face it toward the sun, and her flower would pull through just fine. She grabbed a new pot and directed Natsu to carry the heavy bag of potting soil. Together, the three of them planted the rest of her flowers and helped her clean up. She offered them lemonade and they chatted idly over the cool drink.

When they left, they did so holding hands. Lisanna watched them go, and felt a brush of jealousy as Natsu flung an arm over Lucy's shoulders and pulled her in close. But that was all… a bare hint of envy, and she knew it would fade with time. Lisanna sat on the stoop and pulled the pot with the battered flower to her, rested one hand gently on the lip of the urn as she turned her face up towards the warm sun.

She was home.

* * *

 **Hi everyone! I apologize for the stupid long wait, especially when this is so short...in my defense, I'm getting married on Friday! It's been hectic!**

 **Thank you as always to my wonderful beta, Lady Lutka. And thank you to all of you who read and reviewed! You're the real MVPs!**

 **See you all next time!**


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